


Of Elfs and Kittens

by ElvenQueen18



Series: Evoverse [1]
Category: X-Men Evolution
Genre: Angst, Bobby/Jubilee Remy/Rogue and Scott/Jean are present but not a focus, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Medium Burn, Relationship Upgrade, Written From 2010 to 2013
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 46
Words: 25,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27410254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElvenQueen18/pseuds/ElvenQueen18
Summary: A collection of one-shots and drabbles about the relationship between Kurt Wagner and Kitty Pryde.
Relationships: Amanda Sefton/Kurt Wagner (minor), Kitty Pryde/Kurt Wagner, Lance Alvers/Kitty Pryde (minor)
Series: Evoverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002603
Comments: 20
Kudos: 13





	1. Nicknames

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first one-shot is supposed to take place some time after "The X-Impulse," but before "Rogue Recruit."

Kitty wondered if phasing him halfway through a wall and leaving him there would do any good.

Okay, so it wasn't like she never had a nickname before. After all, she went by Kitty for practically all her life instead of Katherine, so there really was no real reason for her to be upset.

A short, frustrated sigh escaped from Kitty's mouth.

For the last couple of days, ever since Kitty started living at the Xavier Institute, Kurt Wagner (who was one of the other students at the mansion, and who was the most...well, _strange_ , to put it mildly) had been taken to calling her Kätzchen. Not Kitty (or Keety, as he pronounced it), not her new codename Shadowcat, just Kätzchen. Whatever the heck _that_ meant. And for some reason that she couldn't put her finger on, it was driving Kitty insane.

She hadn't said anything about it, and apparently, Kurt thought she was okay with it. So maybe if she told Kurt to stop, he would.

 _Speak of the devil._ Inside, Kitty smiled wryly at her thought as Kurt-blue, furry, demon-looking Kurt-chose that moment to teleport into the hallway. She wrinkled her nose at the sulfuric smell. She wasn't about to scream and run away from him (as she had done when she first saw him in his true form a couple days ago), but that didn't mean she found the smell of the smoke that came with Kurt's teleportation powers agreeable. Nor did it mean Kitty liked the fact that Kurt kept using his power to pop up in front of her.

"Hey, Kätzchen!" Kurt greeted in his thick German accent.

Kitty crossed her arms, glaring slightly. "Like, would you stop calling me that?"

"Calling you vhat?" Kurt asked, looking confused.

"Kätzchen, or whatever."

Kurt paused for a second. "Vhy not?"

Kitty bit her lip as she thought of a response. "'Cause it's, like, totally annoying, y'know," she finally said. "I don't even know what it means!"

Kurt looked amused. "'Kätzchen' means 'kitten' in German," he explained. "I zought it vas fitting, your name being Keety."

"And like, _why_ did you decide to call me Kätzchen?" Kitty wanted to know.

The blue mutant shrugged. "Again, vhy not?" Kurt grinned, showing his fangs.

Kitty sighed, rolling her eyes. This conversation was getting her nowhere.

"So why are you even here?" she asked.

Kurt continued to grin, his pupil-less yellow eyes sparking with something Kitty couldn't name. "Can't I just vant to talk to you, Kätzchen?"

 _Ugh, this guy is_ so _annoying!_ Kitty thought furiously. _What's he trying to do, anyway?_

"Are you gonna, like, stop calling me that any time soon?"

Kurt shrugged nonchalantly. "Probably not," he said. "Later, Kätzchen!"

And with that, Kurt disappeared with a _bamf_ and a puff of smoke, leaving Kitty waving her hand at the rotten-egg smell.

With a groan, Kitty phased into her bedroom. She had a shrewd feeling that no amount of persuasion was going to get Kurt to stop calling her by that nickname.

Unless...

Kitty felt a smile spread across her features as an idea came to her.

* * *

Kitty got her chance to put her idea into action the next morning, after she had woken up and gotten dressed for the day.

Kurt (who had his image inducer turned on, making him look human) teleported into her room as she finished up with her hair.

"Kätzchen! Breakfast!" he exclaimed.

"I'll, like, be down there soon, Fuzzy Elf," Kitty replied.

She wanted to giggle as she saw the puzzled look on Kurt's face through the mirror on her vanity table.

" _Vhat_ did you just call me?" he asked.

A smug smile tugged at Kitty's lips as she turned around to face Kurt. "What, you mean Fuzzy Elf?"

"And since vhen did you decide to call me zat?" Kurt questioned.

Kitty idly fingered a stray strand of her brown hair. "Well," she answered, "since you, like, seem to want to call me Kätzchen instead of Kitty, I thought it would, y'know, be fair if I had a nickname for you, too."

"And I suppose you're going to keep calling me Fuzzy Elf as long as I keep calling you Kätzchen?" Kurt guessed.

"That's right!" Kitty said cheerfully.

There was a momentary pause as Kitty waited for Kurt to respond.

"Do you vant to valk to breakfast togezzer, Kä-Keety?" Kurt finally asked, correcting himself in time and nervously smiling.

A small but genuine smile appeared on Kitty's face as she looked at the holographically-hidden mutant. Okay, so maybe Kurt wasn't always so annoying. Sometimes he could be...tolerable.

"Like, whatever you say, Kurt."


	2. Cuddles

A lazy Saturday afternoon found Kurt sitting on the couch, aimlessly flipping through the channels in a rather bored fashion.

_Horror film...cooking show...western...news...more news...tropical island commercial..._

Kurt didn't notice Kitty walking in until she was blocking his line of sight. He briefly glanced at her, then turned his gaze back to the continuous changing of channels on the TV.

A few seconds later, Kurt's eyes were back on Kitty as she joined him on the couch.

"Move, please," was all she said before shoving him a little to the side and leaning her back against him. She opened a book she was holding and started to read, making herself quite comfortable.

A light purple blush crept onto Kurt's cheeks as he felt Kitty's back pressed against his torso. He looked at her awkwardly for a moment, wondering if he should do something.

"Uh..." Kurt's voice trailed off uncertainly, and Kitty didn't seem to have heard him.

He continued watching the brunette for a few minutes.

 _Oh, vhat ze heck,_ Kurt thought, wrapping his spaded tail around Kitty's middle. She seemed content with his action, and Kurt could have sworn she had nuzzled into him a bit more.

Well, this wasn't so bad, Kurt decided, his heartbeat quickening slightly. He returned his attention to the TV and resumed his channel-surfing.

_Soap opera...nature show...baseball game..._


	3. Lockheed

Kitty snorted. "Really, Kurt! Either you, like, have really bad aim, or the game is totally rigged."

Kurt had practically dragged Kitty to the ring toss booth once they, Scott, and Jean made it to the town's local carnival. For the last twenty minutes, Kurt had been trying-and failing-to throw a ring onto one of the bottles, determined to win a prize for Kitty.

Kitty continued without waiting for a reply. "You don't have to win me anything, y'know."

Kurt turned to look at her, his usually yellow eyes now a dark blue thanks to his image inducer.

"Ja, I know, but I vant to," he said in a rather matter-of-fact tone.

Kitty had nothing to say to that as Kurt picked up a ring and tossed it. It hit its mark, landing on the neck of a bottle.

"Yes!" Kurt cheered, and a few seconds later, he was handed a small stuffed animal.

"I told you I'd vin you a prize," Kurt told Kitty smugly as he gave her the plush toy.

"Oh, what _ever_!" Kitty retorted.

She took a glance at what she was holding, and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. It was a dragon, made out of a soft, yellow material, with white horns on its head and white wings on its back. It was actually kind of cute.

 _It really was sweet of Kurt, wasn't it?_ Kitty thought.

"I think I'll call him Lockheed," she said aloud.

"Huh?" Kurt raised his eyebrows.

Kitty looked up at Kurt. "What, you don't like Lockheed?"

"I vould have called him Drachen."

"Like, is that German for 'dragon'?" Kitty smirked.

Kurt grinned back. "How'd you guess?"

"Yeah, like _that's_ original, Fuzzy Elf!" Kitty said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I'm glad you have faith in me, Kätzchen."

"...Why are we, like, even talking about this?" Kitty suddenly felt quite uncomfortable about the discussion of the last five seconds or so.

"I don't know, Keety," Kurt responded, shrugging his shoulders. "You tell me."

 _Man, how does he do it?_ Kitty thought, her face unusually warm. _Nothing ever seems to make him feel awkward or embarrassed..._

"Um, let's, like, go to the Ferris wheel," Kitty said abruptly, taking Kurt's hand with the one that wasn't holding her new plush toy. "Maybe we can catch up with Scott and Jean."


	4. Bickering

When Kurt and Kitty stepped into the living room, it looked like they were having a heated argument.

Well, heated on Kitty's end, anyway. Her face was flushed pink and her eyes were narrowed, while Kurt was looking as though he was trying not to smile.

"Kurt, you have, like, such a big head sometimes!" Kitty was saying.

"And how is zat any different from you, Miss Keety _Pryde_?" Kurt asked. "Aren't you ze von who's getting straight A's in everyzing?"

"That's not the point!" Kitty retorted. "I swear, sometimes I think you, like, _enjoy_ annoying the heck out of me!"

"Only because _you_ enjoy it vhen I pester you."

Kitty raised her eyebrows at that. " _What_?" she exclaimed.

By this time, Kurt was grinning devilishly, his eyes shining in amusement. "Admit it, Keety. You just don't vant ze Fuzzy Dude out of your sight."

Kitty let out a snort. "Like, you must have fur for brains then."

"You know you love me."

"And what makes you think-"

A new voice broke in. "Hey, d'ya mahnd takin' yer flirt fest somewhere else? Ah'd lahke tah get this done some tahme before next year."

Kurt and Kitty turned their heads to see Rogue sitting on the couch with a copy of _Dracula_ in her hands.

"Rogue!" Kurt exclaimed. "How long have you been sitting zere?" The blue teleporter was no longer grinning.

The Goth rolled her eyes. "Ah've bin here fer a while," she said. "Y'all were just too busy flirtin' tah notice."

Kitty's face went as red as a cherry. Both she and Kurt (who had become rather purple himself) became very quiet, suddenly finding the carpet very interesting to look at.

"We-we _totally_ were not flirting, Rogue," Kitty protested weakly.

Rogue smirked slightly. "Sure ya weren't."

"Um, I got, like, homework I should be doing," Kitty stammered out before quickly phasing through the nearest wall.

Kurt mumbled something about taking a shower and teleported out of the room.

Rogue's smirk broadened. _Well, that's one way tah keep 'em quiet,_ she thought. _It's only a matter of tahme..._

And with that, Rogue returned to her book.


	5. Worries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one-shot takes place after "Shadowed Past."

Except for breakfast, that morning's Danger Room session, and lunch, Kitty hadn't seen much of Kurt all day. And even when she had seen him, her blue friend wasn't up much for talking, which was unlike him. Kitty had a good idea of what had Kurt so down-after all, finding out that one of your worst enemies and your mother were one and the same wasn't exactly the most pleasant of experiences. Kitty was hoping she could get Kurt out of the dumps.

Which was why she was phasing through his bedroom door at that moment, right after she had knocked a couple of times.

"Kurt?" Kitty found him lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Kurt turned his head to look at Kitty.

"Hey, Keety," he said tonelessly. He then looked back at the ceiling.

"Okay, like, who are you and what have you done to Kurt?" Kitty asked, smiling slightly.

Kurt snorted. "Very funny," he said as he sat up to face Kitty, swinging his legs over to the side of his bed.

Despite his (for lack of a better word) curt response, Kitty could have sworn she saw a glint of humor in his eyes. _If he's up for jokes,_ she thought, _he must be doing a_ little _better._

"So vhat brings you here?" Kurt asked.

Kitty shrugged. "You've just been, like, kind of out of it all day," she said. "I missed you."

Kurt remained silent.

"It's the Mystique thing, isn't it?" Kitty asked, though it came out as more of a statement.

Kurt nodded wordlessly. A moment passed with Kitty trying to think of what to say next.

But before she could, Kurt began to speak. "Do you ever zink you'll turn out ze same vay as your parents?"

Kitty stared at Kurt; now _that_ was something she hadn't expected.

"Um, no, not really," she answered truthfully. "Why?"

Kurt frowned. "Vell, seeing as how Mystique is apparently my mozzer...I vas kind of vondering if I vill turn out to be like her."

"What do you mean?" Kitty, who felt she already knew the answer, wanted to know.

"I mean...I don't know," Kurt waved a hand helplessly, "go evil or somezing."

"Oh, _Kurt_!" Kitty sat down next to him. "I, like, seriously doubt that's ever going to happen."

"You don't know zat," Kurt said.

"But I know you," Kitty replied, smiling. "And just because your mom's evil doesn't mean you're going to be a bad guy, too. As a matter of fact, you've got to be, like, one of the nicest guys I know."

Kurt managed a small smile. "Zanks, Keety."

Kitty put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, what are friends for?"

She thought she saw Kurt's face fall for a second, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Had Kitty just imagined that?

Instead of dwelling on it, Kitty asked, "So, are you, like, gonna be okay?"

"I'm not going to drop dead, if zat's vhat you're zinking," Kurt answered.

Kitty beamed. "Great. 'Cause you totally need to eat, like, three helpings of everything at dinner."


	6. Songs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs mentioned in this one-shot. "She's Like the Wind" is by Patrick Swayze, "Just So You Know" is by Jesse McCartney, and "Mr. Brightside" is by the Killers.

Kurt was getting the feeling that his radio decided it just didn't like him today. No matter what station he turned it to, a song that would make him think of his feelings for Kitty would be playing.

Like the song that was playing right now:

_She's like the wind through my tree._ _  
She rides the night next to me.  
She leads me through moonlight,  
Only to burn me with the sun.  
She's taken my heart,  
She doesn't know what she's done._

_I feel her breath on my face,_ _  
Her body close to me.  
Can't look in her eyes.  
She's out of my league.  
Just a fool to believe  
I have anything she needs.  
She's like the wind._

_How true is zat?_ Kurt thought with a sigh. Kitty _had_ "taken his heart," practically since the day he first saw her, and it seemed to fly straight over her head.

Not that Kurt could blame her. Heck, he was lucky that Kitty was now one of his closest friends. Even if she didn't love him the way he loved her, at least she didn't hate him. Right?

Kurt switched to another station.

_I shouldn't love you, but I want to._ _  
I just can't turn away.  
I shouldn't see you, but I can't move,  
I can't look away._

_And I don't know how to be fine when I'm not,_ _  
_' _Cause I don't know how to make a feeling stop._

_Just so you know,_ _  
This feeling's taking control of me,  
And I can't help it.  
I won't sit around,  
I can't let him win now.  
Thought you should know  
I've tried my best to let go of you,  
But I don't want to.  
I just gotta say it all before I go,  
Just so you know._

_Vell, ze horensohn_ did _vin,_ Kurt thought bitterly, said "horensohn" being Lance Alvers, the self-proclaimed leader of the Brotherhood.

Kurt didn't know why Kitty was even dating Lance. For Pete's sake, the guy was with the very group of mutants whose goal was to destroy the X-Men by any means necessary! So why the heck was Kitty dating him?

Was it because of Lance's jerkish attitude? Was it because they happened to be on opposing sides, and Kitty just had a weird attraction to that? Or was it because...

Kurt let his gaze wander to the mirror in his room, and he studied his reflection.

Blue fur. Yellow eyes. Fangs. A spaded tail. With each feature Kurt studied, the frown on his face deepened.

At least Lance looked human. Maybe that was why Kitty liked him. After all, how could Kurt expect her to like _him_ , when he looked like a demon?

With this less-than-encouraging thought, Kurt changed the station on the radio.

_Coming out of my cage, and I've been doing just fine._ _  
Gotta, gotta be down, because I want it all.  
It started out with a kiss.  
How did it end up like this?  
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss._

_Now I'm falling asleep, and she's calling a cab,_ _  
While he's having a smoke, and she's taking a drag.  
Now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick.  
And it's all in my head,  
But she's touching his chest.  
Now he takes off her dress.  
Now, let me go._

Kurt groaned as images of Lance and Kitty that he _did not want_ started to appear in his head. It was official; the radio didn't dislike him-it hated his guts.

The blue mutant wondered if he ought to bang his head against something as the song continued:

_And I just can't look; it's killing me_ _  
And taking control._

_Jealousy, turning saints into the sea._ _  
Swimming through sick lullabies,  
Choking on your alibis.  
But it's just the price I pay.  
Destiny is calling me.  
Open up my eager eyes.  
_' _Cause I'm Mr. Brightside._

 _Yep, zat's me,_ Kurt thought dully. He truly was Mr. Brightside-the team's eternal optimist, the happy-go-lucky jokester of the X-Men. Well, that was his reputation, anyway.

Kurt turned to look at his reflection in the mirror again. _Keety..._

He shook his head as he turned off the taunting radio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> horensohn = son of a bitch


	7. Nerves

Kurt glanced uneasily around the room. "Is zere anyvon staring at me?"

Kitty sighed. "No, Kurt, no one's looking at you. Expect me."

Kurt had little idea as to how he had gotten into this situation. A few hours (or it could have been several hours) ago, Kitty had been raving about some sale at the mall and had asked Kurt if he wanted to go with her. Before his brain could fully register what she was asking him, Kurt had ended up teleporting Kitty and himself to the mall. Once there, Kurt had spent his time getting dragged by Kitty into practically every store in the place (although the feel of her hand in his was pretty nice), all the while making sure that he didn't bump into anybody and that his image inducer wasn't going to short out.

Right now, Kurt and Kitty were at the food court having lunch, where Kurt had spent the last few minutes looking around the room.

"Kurt, stop doing that," Kitty snapped as he took another glance at their surroundings.

It was now Kurt's turn to sigh. "Sorry, but I can't help it," he said.

"Look, even if people are looking at you, there's no reason for them to think you're anything but a regular human," Kitty pointed out.

"Ja, as long as zey don't touch me," Kurt replied with some bite in his voice, staring at the image inducer on his wrist. "Zis holo-vatch doesn't change ze fact zat I have fur."

"That's true," Kitty agreed slowly as she took a bite of her salad.

"And it could go on ze fritz at any time," Kurt continued. "Vhat a zing for zese people to see-a blue, fuzzy guy," he added dryly.

Kurt became silent as he nibbled on his slice of pizza. He didn't voice this to Kitty, but he sometimes thought people would be able to see through his human-looking hologram to the blue mutant he truly was. In some ways, that was even worse than his image inducer shorting out in a public place.

"Kurt, if you're that worried, why did you agree to come here with me?" Kitty asked. "You could've said no."

Kurt lifted his gaze to Kitty's. _Is she really asking zat question?_ he thought. Didn't she realize that he could never say no to her?

"I guess it didn't occur to me," was his only reply.

Kitty paused for a moment. "Y'know, Kurt, the sale's really not that important," she said. "How about we go home after lunch?"

Kurt smiled. "Best idea I've heard all day."

"Should we just teleport home?" Kitty asked.

"No, ve can valk," Kurt answered.

A while later, after they had finished and paid for their lunch, Kurt had teleported himself and Kitty outside of the mall (after making sure no one was watching, of course), and were now making their way back to the mansion.

Kurt felt Kitty slip her hand into his as they walked. He looked down at their clasped hands and frowned slightly. He disliked how he couldn't intertwine his fingers with Kitty's. That was another thing the image inducer couldn't change: the fact that he had three fingers on each hand.

 _But you_ can _still hold her hand,_ a voice in his head reminded him.

 _Zat's true,_ Kurt admitted, looking up as the corners of his lips turned upward. He gave Kitty's hand a gentle squeeze, and his smile widened a little when Kitty didn't pull away from him.


	8. Subtlety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one-shot can be considered a companion piece of sorts to "Songs." It also contains some spoilers if you haven't read the fourth issue of the X-Men: Evolution comics, "Am I Blue?"

She wasn't quite sure when she realized that she was falling for him. It had been so subtle, so gradual; she hadn't even noticed her feelings changing. Generally speaking, they were just so...comfortable with each other. It was only natural that they shared a hug every now and then, a pat on the shoulder here, an affectionate touch there.

If there was anything unusual about their relationship, it was that Kitty never interacted with other guys the same way she did with Kurt.

 _But it wasn't always that way,_ Kitty remembered. It used to be, well, _un_ comfortable to be around Kurt. It was like he was a walking definition of the worst case scenario of being a mutant. It was only when he was knocked unconscious by Rogue that Kitty regretted her treatment of him. She had silently promised herself that if Kurt woke up-and she was so relieved when he did-she would make an effort to be his friend.

But when did her feelings begin to change? Kitty lied down on her bed, frowning in thought.

She decided it must have been that day Kurt leapt to her defense when they were being harassed by thugs. _"My hero!"_ Kitty had said, and she meant everything she told Kurt afterward, about how he wasn't ugly and was a "good weird." That was the day Kitty started wondering what it would be like if Kurt was more than a friend to her. As she'd mulled over the possibility, she thought of how he wasn't bitter towards her or anyone else who thought he was unnatural. She thought of how sweet he could be, how he was always there when she needed him, and how oddly cute he was whenever he was frustrated or confused about something. She thought of how he could light up a room when he smiled, and how she hated to see him sad.

A fond expression had settled on Kitty's features. _Kurt's probably the sweetest guy I've ever met,_ she thought. _I doubt I'll ever find another guy like him._

While Kitty took time to figure out that her feelings for Kurt had grown beyond friendship, he had started dating Amanda Sefton. And he liked her, _really_ liked her.

A surge of jealousy shot through Kitty. Her brows furrowed in frustration. _I'm such an idiot,_ she berated herself. _Kurt was right there in front of me, and it's only now that I don't have him anymore that I can see that. Ugh! Stupid, stupid,_ stupid _!_

Ever since that Sadie Hawkins dance, it was as if Kurt did not remember she existed. _Okay, so he isn't completely ignoring me,_ Kitty thought, _but it sure seems like Amanda's the only thing Kurt will talk about nowadays._

Kitty sulked. _Amanda doesn't know him like I do. Sure, she cares about him, and it's nice that she's so supportive and all...but she can't possibly_ love _him! She doesn't know about Kurt being persecuted as a kid; she doesn't know about Mystique and about Kurt's fear that his mom's behavior is genetic. Heck, I'd bet that she doesn't know any of Kurt's little habits, like hanging from the chandelier at mealtimes until Mr. Logan threatens to lob off his tail._

Kitty's thoughts became even more sour. _All Amanda knows is that Kurt's a blue, furry mutant, and that's all she wants to know._ She felt a pang of guilt as they flashed through her mind. It was unfair, and Kitty knew that, it was just...

She groaned out loud. Since when did her life become something out of a soap opera? She had fallen in love with Kurt just in time to see him get involved with Amanda, not to mention that she was still with Lance...Kitty felt herself wince.

 _It won't last,_ an optimistic part of her brain assured her. One day, Kitty and Kurt would be single again. And it probably wouldn't be next week or next month, but eventually, they would realize they were so much more than just friends. It would be subtle, and they most likely wouldn't notice until after the fact, but it would happen.

And Kitty would wait. Right now, she and Kurt were friends, and right now, that would just have to be good enough.


	9. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one-shot takes place during "Mainstream."

The first thing Kurt did when school was out for the day was to teleport to the underground bunker that was the temporary home of the X-Men. He then went to the room he shared with Scott (and if any of the adults were around, Kurt hadn't acknowledged them), took off his image inducer, and tossed it onto his bed. And with that, he teleported to the forest.

Kurt didn't want to face anyone right now. He _couldn't_ , not after what he had done. Or rather, what he hadn't done.

Mutants had been exposed to the world just a couple of days ago. And while Scott, Jean, Kitty, Evan, and Rogue had to endure the last several hours being taunted, shunned, and hated by their peers, what had Kurt done? Nothing; he hadn't done a blasted thing to help out his friends.

 _No, it vasn't nozzing,_ Kurt dully reminded himself. _It vas vorse zan nozzing._ He-Kurt Wagner, AKA Nightcrawler-had denied being their friend, had denied being a mutant. In his mind, Kurt could see the angry glare Kitty had shot him that morning, and that same wave of guilt rose within him.

 _But it's not like I didn't have a reason,_ Kurt thought. The image inducer had its drawbacks, but at least it _did_ make him blend in with humans. It made him look normal, and up until recently, normalcy was a luxury he'd never had in his life. Could he be blamed for not wanting to give up being seen as just another guy, as opposed to being seen as a demonic freak?

 _Vas it vorth turning your back on your friends,_ Peter _?_ a nasty mental voice asked. Kurt closed his eyes, exhaling sharply at the comparison. Deep down inside, he knew the answer was an automatic no, but _still_...

Just then, Kurt heard footsteps walking towards him. He didn't bother to turn around; he would know that scent anywhere. Despite himself, Kurt smiled slightly at the thought.

"How did you know vhere to find me?" he asked quietly.

"Guess I just know you too well," came Kitty's flat response.

Not knowing whether to take her reply as sarcasm or not, Kurt finally turned to face Kitty. Her face was expressionless, her arms were folded across her chest, and the sparkle that was usually present in her blue eyes (not that Kurt took the time to notice, of course) seemed to have faded.

Kurt was silent for a moment. "If you're going to yell at me, zen just get it over vith."

"All I want to know is why you did it," Kitty said, still in that flat tone of voice.

Inside, Kurt felt himself cringe; it would have been better if Kitty had shouted.

"I just didn't vant to give up being normal yet," he said.

"Was it worth turning your back on your friends?" Kitty demanded, sounding angry for the first time.

Later, Kurt would remember what Kitty had asked and vaguely wonder if she was his conscience or something, but at that moment, a sudden anger was surging through him, and his yellow eyes flashed as he looked at her.

"Keety, you don't get it," Kurt snapped. " _None_ of you get it! Unlike ze rest of you, I've had to live my whole life branded as a freak! Do you know vhat it's like, knowing all your life zat ze vorld hates your guts because you look like _zis_?" He pointed at his blue, furry face. "No, you don't, because you've been able to be normal for most of your life! Sue me for not vanting to give up somezing ozzer people take for granted!"

Kitty's arms had fallen to her sides and her eyes were wide by the time Kurt finished. He almost regretted his outburst. Almost.

"Kurt..." Kitty said softly, no longer in that unnaturally flat voice.

Kurt turned away from her, his anger cooling. "Zey tried to burn me at ze stake," he murmured.

"Who's 'they'?"

"Ze villagers back in Germany," Kurt answered. He didn't want to relive that night: torches, pitchforks, screams for "the demon" to be killed, and so much _fire_...the only good thing about that night was the discovery of his teleportation powers.

Kurt's breath hitched in his throat. "Zey vanted to _kill_ me, Keety," he continued, "because zey zought I vas a monster. And maybe zey vere right."

"That's stupid," Kurt contradicted. "Kurt, you know that's not-"

"Don't tell me it's not true," Kurt interrupted, looking at Kitty. "Because I sure as heck vas acting like von today."

Kitty fell silent, looking down at the grass.

"Well...I _was_ angry when you didn't do anything to help us; we all were," she said slowly. "And I kinda am still mad at you."

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, and he meant it.

Kitty sighed. "But I can understand why you did it."

"So, apology accepted?"

She looked up at him. "Close enough, I guess. Just don't let me catch you calling yourself a monster and we'll call it even."

Kurt weakly chuckled as a slight breeze brushed past them.

"Kurt, let's go back," Kitty said abruptly. "It's getting cold."

"Do ve have to?" Kurt asked cautiously. "I don't zink ze ozzers vill be as forgiving."

Kitty smiled slightly as she took Kurt by the wrist. "You'll have to face them some time."

And as they walked back to the underground bunker, Kurt tried to pretend his heart hadn't skipped a beat at Kitty's touch.


	10. Interruptions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this one-shot, we're now in post-season four territory.

"All right, Kitty, you can do this," Kitty muttered to herself as she paced up and down her room. "Just find him, say you want to talk to him about something, and then tell him. I mean, it's only three little words, how hard could it be?"

"You have somezing you vant to share, Keety?"

Kitty jumped slightly, startled. She turned to see Kurt, the object of her mutterings, standing in the doorway with an amused look on his face.

"Kurt!" she exclaimed. "Uh...how long have you been standing there?"

 _Oh, man! How much of that did he hear?_ Kitty thought, hoping her face wasn't turning red.

Kurt walked up to stand next to Kitty. "I just got here," he said. The blue mutant frowned in thought.

"Kätzchen?" Kurt finally asked.

Kitty managed a smile. "Yeah, Fuzzy Elf?"

"Zere's somezing I need to tell you. Somezing I should have said a long time ago." The expression on Kurt's face had now become serious.

Kitty chuckled. "That's funny, because I have something I need to tell you, too," she said. "But you can go first."

"All right." Hesitantly, Kurt placed a hand on Kitty's shoulder. "Keety...you know you're my best friend, ja?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Vell, for so long, I...I zink...no, I _know_..."

"Yes?" Kitty prompted. Her heart was beating wildly. Was Kurt about to say what she thought he was going to say?

They seemed to be inching closer to each other. Kurt took a breath.

"Keety, I l-"

"Hey, Kurt! I've been looking for you!" a cheerful voice suddenly broke in.

Kurt and Kitty sprung apart, although he still had his hand on her shoulder. They turned to see that Bobby had walked into the room.

Kitty scowled. "Bobby, do you _mind_?" she snapped. _Dang it, Bobby!_ she thought. _We were in the middle of something!_

Bobby looked at her in slight confusion. "What, is this a bad time?" Without waiting for a response, Bobby turned toward Kurt. "The guys are starting the videogame tournament right now. You in or what?"

"I'll be down in a minute," Kurt replied in a would-be calm voice.

Bobby nodded, and as he left, Kurt turned to look at Kitty, his expression unreadable.

"I zink I better go," Kurt said, taking his hand off of Kitty's shoulder.

"Hold on a second. Wasn't there something you wanted to tell me?" But Kitty knew, even as she spoke, that the moment was killed, and it would probably be a long time before they could get it back.

Kurt stared at the floor, not meeting Kitty's eyes. "It's...it's nozzing, Keety," he said after a pause. "Ve'll talk later."

He teleported away, leaving Kitty alone with her thoughts.


	11. Date

It was a warm day outside—a cloudless blue sky, a slight breeze, the works. It was perfect weather for what Kurt had in mind to do today. Now, if only he could muster up enough guts to knock on Kitty's door...

Kurt wasn't altogether sure why he was still hesitating. He had been in situations that were worse than this (heck, matters of life and death were part of the job when one was an X-Man), and it wasn't like this was anything fancy he was inviting Kitty on.

So he really should just stop staring at Kitty's door and knock on the darn thing.

 _Just calm down, you can do zis,_ Kurt thought to himself. _Ze vorst zat can happen is...no, don't zink about zat; you'll just lose your nerve again._

Taking a deep breath and trying not to think about anything except what he was planning to do, Kurt quickly knocked once, twice, three times on the door, then stepped back to wait. Within seconds, Kitty had opened the door, her blue eyes brightening as she saw who it was.

"Hey, Kurt," she greeted. "So you finally learned how to use a door?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Despite popular belief, Keety, I don't alvays teleport from room to room."

Kitty smirked. "Could've fooled me. What do you want, anyway?"

"I vas vondering...since it's a nice day out and all, if you'd vant to go for a valk vith me," Kurt said, surprised by how steady his voice was.

Kitty paused momentarily, looking thoughtful. "You mean, just the two of us?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Like a date?"

"Ye—I mean, no! I mean..." Kurt mentally cursed himself; why did he have to clamp up now? "No, not a date, it's just..."

His voice trailed off as Kitty merely stood there, her arms folded and an eyebrow raised skeptically.

Kurt sighed. "Yes, it's a date." He looked at Kitty. "I'm asking you out on a date."

Kitty could barely contain the wide grin that was creeping its way onto her face. _Finally!_ she thought.

Out loud, she let out a giggle and said, "Then I'd love to! Just give me five minutes to change clothes."

"All right." Kurt nodded ( _Yes! She said yes, she said yes!_ he thought). "I'll meet you in ze main hall."

* * *

A few minutes later, Kurt was in the main hall, his inducer turned on. He lifted his head as Kitty walked down the stairs. She had changed into a white cotton top, a knee-length black skirt, and matching black flip-flops. To top it off, she had let her hair out of its usual ponytail so that it now fell around her shoulders.

"What, see something you like?" Kitty asked in amusement when she caught Kurt staring.

Kurt blinked, his face flushing slightly beneath the hologram. "Uh..."

Kitty didn't wait for him to answer. "So, you ready to go?"

"Ja," Kurt replied, nodding vaguely. "But I'm driving," he quickly added, showing Kitty the car keys.

Her smile turned into a pout. "I _have_ been getting better, y'know!"

Kurt laughed at the look on Kitty's face. "I'm not taking any chances, Keety."

* * *

When Kurt and Kitty made it to town, they started off just walking the streets together, talking about a wide variety of subjects: what their lives were like before the X-Men, how they joined up with the team, what they wanted to do in the future. Sometimes, one of them could not resist poking fun at the other ("So Keety, do you still drink milk from ze carton?" "Come on, Kurt, that only happened _once_!"), and other times, they slipped into moments of comfortable silence.

Eventually, Kurt and Kitty found themselves strolling in the park. The breeze picked up a little, and Kurt watched as it ruffled Kitty's brown hair and brushed past her skirt. The sun seemed to be giving Kitty's skin a slight glow, and Kurt decided it was the prettiest he had ever seen her.

The holographically-hidden mutant smiled as he and Kitty found a park bench to sit on. _I should've asked her out a long time ago,_ Kurt thought.

"So, Kurt..." Kitty began as she played with a lock of her hair, "I don't think I've ever really apologized for...y'know, for how I acted when we first met."

"You mean vhen ze inducer shorted out and you screamed and ran avay vhen you saw vhat I really looked like?" Kurt recalled. "Don't vorry about zat; you don't need to apologize."

 _It didn't stop me from chasing you,_ he thought. Out loud, Kurt grinned and added, "Besides, you varmed up to ze Fuzzy Dude soon enough."

Kitty smiled in reply. "'Course I did." Her smile faded slightly. "But maybe if I'd liked you from the start, things would've been different."

Kurt remained silent, looking at Kitty.

Her voice became quieter, as though she were talking more to herself than to him. "You really liked me, even when you freaked me out...even when you annoyed me...even when I just saw you as my friend." Kitty laughed shakily. "By the time I figured out that I liked you as...something more, you were, well..." Kitty's voice trailed off.

"Vith Amanda," Kurt finished. "And you vere vith Lance."

"Yeah." Kitty was looking down at the grass; she looked up at Kurt as his hand touched hers.

"Keety, for vhat it's vorth," Kurt said, "I don't zink I ever stopped. Liking you, I mean."

"Really?" Kitty asked, almost looking as though she didn't believe him.

Kurt nodded. His heartbeat quickened. _It's now or never._ "I love you, Keety."

It took a few seconds for Kitty to realize what Kurt had just said, but when she did, she suddenly threw her arms around him in a hug.

"Love you too, Fuzzy Elf," she said as she released him, grinning. And with that, Kitty gently leaned her head against Kurt's shoulder, and he smiled down at her.

* * *

"And just where've y'all bin?" Rogue asked Kurt and Kitty when they came back to the mansion.

Kitty blushed slightly and exchanged glances with Kurt. "Oh, just out for a walk," she replied in a nonchalant voice.

Kurt snickered, and Kitty took him by the hand as they walked towards the kitchen.

Rogue stared, taking note of their clasped hands. _Well, 'bout tahme those two got it tahgether,_ she thought.


	12. Teasing

It seemed there was only one drawback to it being general knowledge that Kitty and Kurt had started dating—namely, the teasing the two had to endure from their teammates, mostly from Bobby and Evan.

Kitty suspected that Evan giving her and Kurt grief about their new relationship was his way of trying to make up for essentially abandoning the team during his time with the Morlocks, but Kitty didn't know what Bobby's excuse was. Despite currently being in a relationship with Jubilee, the ice-maker cheerfully seized any opportunity he could to rib Kurt and Kitty.

And frankly, it was getting pretty annoying.

"Hey, you're drifting off again." Kurt's voice broke into Kitty's thoughts. "Vant me to change ze channel?"

Kitty rearranged her position on the couch where they were sitting, casually leaning against Kurt's side. "Sure, go ahead," she said. "Let's see if there's anything good on."

They heard snickering from behind them.

"Aw, cute," came Bobby's voice. "Watching soaps?"

Kurt groaned and Kitty rolled her eyes. They turned their heads to glare at Bobby and Evan.

"Don't you have something better to do than bother us?" Kitty asked irritably.

"Hey, is it a crime to walk in here now?" Evan put on a would-be innocent look.

"No, so vhy don't you continue valking?" Kurt snapped.

Bobby grinned at Evan. "I take it the new couple wants alone time."

Before Kurt could say anything, Kitty put a hand on his face. "They just want to embarrass us; just ignore them," she said.

And with that, Kitty laid her head on Kurt's shoulder as she looked back at the TV screen. She felt Kurt put his arm around her, and she did her best to ignore the immature laughter coming from Evan and Bobby. She was only vaguely aware of the next round of teasing, but judging from the way Kurt was tensing beside her, Kitty guessed it was _very_ annoying.

She tuned in about ten minutes later.

"So when's the wedding?" Bobby was saying.

Kurt's face flushed a light purple. "Keety and I've only been dating a veek, and you're already talking about veddings?"

"I bet it's gonna be a white wedding," Evan told Bobby, as though Kurt hadn't spoken.

"Oh, I don't know." Bobby smirked in Kurt and Kitty's direction. "Kurt might not want to wait that long for certain _privileges_ , if you know what I mean."

Evan and Bobby both dissolved into loud peals of laughter.

Kurt, whose face was now steadily resembling a grape, scowled. "And just how far have _you_ gone vith Jubilee, Bobby? Not even first base?" He rose his voice to make himself heard over the laughter.

 _What are those idiots even talking abo...oh._ Oh _!_ Kitty thought, heat rushing to her face.

Bobby, along with Evan, continued to laugh and didn't reply.

"Hey, quit your laughin', you two, unless you'd like a Danger Room session with me," a new voice spoke.

Kurt, Kitty, Bobby, and Evan looked up to see that Logan had walked into the room.

"Well?" he growled, fixing a stern eye on the latter two, his claws appearing out of one set of knuckles with a _snikt_.

The grins had melted from Evan and Bobby's faces, and with quick replies of "No-we're-good," they practically ran from the room.

"Thanks, Mr. Logan!" Kitty grinned appreciatively, her blush fading.

"'Welcome." Logan's claws retreated back into his skin, and as he left, Kurt and Kitty could hear him grumbling something about crazy kids.

Kitty looked at Kurt. The blush on his face was still present, though lighter than it was a few minutes ago.

"Vell," Kurt muttered, "zat vas just uncalled for."

"Yeah, they're aggravating." Kitty smiled as she rested against him. "But so are you."

"Vhat?" Kurt stared at her.

Kitty continued to smile. "Oh, just hush and keep your eyes on the screen."


	13. Mistletoe

"Mistletoe," Kurt said with a grin, pointing up at the doorway.

Kitty looked for herself. Sure enough, a clump of mistletoe was hanging above where they stood.

"Vell? Aren't ve going to carry out ze holiday tradition?" Kurt asked, his voice laced with amusement.

Kitty looked back at her boyfriend, the corners of her lips quivering upward. "Don't you mean _your_ holiday tradition? I don't celebrate Christmas, remember? And anyway," she added, as though it were an afterthought, "I can kiss you any old time I want."

Kurt merely shrugged, appearing undaunted. "Kissing under ze mistletoe is still a tradition. Besides," he stepped closer to Kitty, grinning again, "zink of it as making up for last year."

Kitty managed to keep herself from laughing as she felt her cheeks become warm, knowing exactly what Kurt was referring to.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" she asked, pretending to sound annoyed.

"You know it, liebling."

The brunette gave a dramatic sigh. "Oh, all right, if you really want to..."

And with that, Kitty took Kurt's face in her hands and kissed him on the lips. A few seconds later, she pulled away.

"You planned this, didn't you?" Kitty asked.

Kurt gave her a look of innocence. "Now vhy vould you zink zat, Keety?"

Kitty just shook her head and kissed him again.


	14. Illnesses

Kitty grunted softly as she slowly woke up, blinking away the sleep from her eyes. Sniffling, she reached for a tissue and blew her nose into it. It was at that moment that she vaguely heard a _bamf_.

"You're up, Sleeping Beauty."

Kitty rolled her eyes as she turned to look at Kurt. Her pajamas (which she hadn't changed out of since yesterday) were wrinkled and her hair wasn't brushed. Not to mention her nose had been alternating between stuffy and runny and her throat was still pretty scratchy.

In that moment, Kitty decided that Kurt was officially nuts.

"Beauty's not what I'd call it," Kitty retorted hoarsely.

Kurt smiled slightly. "Vell, you seem to be doing better zan yesterday."

It was then that Kitty noticed that Kurt was carrying a tray with a plate of food and a glass of milk.

"Do you vant some lunch?" he asked.

Kitty shrugged. "I'm not very hungry, but sure."

Kurt walked closer to Kitty's bed and put the tray on her lap. She ignored the sandwich for now and decided to nibble on one of the apple slices.

A moment passed before Kurt sat next to her on the bed and reached to put an arm around her shoulders.

Kitty batted his hand away.

"Hey!" Kurt protested.

"No touching until I'm better," Kitty said firmly. "You want to catch my cold, too? Don't you remember the last time you caught something from me?"

"You mean ze whole 'teleporting all over vhile asleep' zing? Come on, I apologized, didn't I?" Kurt frowned. "And it vasn't even my fault anyvay."

Kitty scoffed. " _You_ were the one teleporting us all over Bayville. I tried to wake you up, but you can sleep like a rock when you really—" She was cut off by a fit of coughing.

Kurt patted her on the back. "Are you okay, Keety?"

"I will be...soon, I hope," Kitty replied after her coughing had subsided. She took a sip of milk, then turned back toward Kurt.

"Sorry for snapping at you," she said, smiling tiredly.

"You're forgiven." Kurt put his arm around her.

"Kurt! I said no touching!" Kitty exclaimed.

Kurt calmly tightened his hold on her. "Don't really care, Kätzchen. I haven't touched you since yesterday morning."

"Oh, so you're having withdrawals?" Kitty asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Somezing like zat, ja," Kurt said, shrugging. He pressed his nose into Kitty's neck.

Kitty sighed, reaching for another apple slice and trying to ignore the rising heat in her face that didn't have anything to do with her illness. "It's your funeral."


	15. Troubles

"Havin' Kurt troubles, Kitty?"

Kitty looked up from the dining room table to see Rogue standing in the doorway.

"'Kurt troubles'?" the brunette repeated.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "If there's anyone that can get ya sulkin', it's Kurt." She walked over to the table and sat down in a chair. "So what happened?"

Kitty sighed, looking a little sheepish. "Well, if you must know, we kind of had a fight this morning," she admitted.

"Yeah, Ah figured when Ah heard y'all yellin' in the livin' room," Rogue said dryly. As Kitty's face flushed slightly, Rogue continued. "What were ya arguin' about?"

"Oh, just something stupid, really." Kitty shrugged. "I'm hoping to find him so we can make up and forget it ever happened."

"Really?" Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Yer not gonna give Kurt the cold shoulder or somethin'?"

Kitty shrugged again. "Well, we can't stay mad at each other forever, can we? That'll just get really weird."

"Ah guess..." Rogue mused, remembering how Kurt and Kitty avoided and shot glares at each other the last time they'd had a big fight; luckily, they had made up by the next day.

"I'm going to see if Kurt's in his room," Kitty decided, standing up from her chair and beginning to walk out. "But if he's not there, could you tell me if you see him?"

"Sure," Rogue said casually. "Want me tah tell him ya want tah go back tah yer make-out sessions?"

Kitty whirled around to face her. "What? 'Make-out sessions'? Wh-what are you talking about?" Kitty was blushing furiously.

"Oh, lahke ya haven't made out with mah brother before."

"And like that's any of your business!"

Rogue looked at Kitty innocently. "Ah didn't say it was mah business, did Ah?"

"...Are you betting with Jubilee, Tabitha, and Amara again?"

Rogue didn't reply.

"Man, Rogue, are you so bored with your relationship with Remy that you have to make bets about my relationship with Kurt?" Kitty asked with a slight grin.

" _What_?" Rogue exclaimed. "Since when was Ah in a relationship with _Remy_? Why would Ah want anythin' tah do with that...that swamp rat?"

Kitty's grin widened. "Uh, because you _like_ that swamp rat."

"Ah do not!" Rogue's face was flushed pink—it was hard to tell if it was with anger or embarrassment (or both).

"Whatever you say, Rogue." Kitty giggled as she left the room.

* * *

Just as she thought, Kitty found Kurt in his bedroom, sitting out on his balcony.

"Hey," Kitty greeted as she walked over to him.

Kurt turned to look at her. "Hey."

There was a moment of awkward silence. No matter how many times Kurt and Kitty argued and made up again, the "making up" part never seemed to get any easier.

Finally, Kitty spoke. "Look, about this morning...it was a stupid fight, and I said some stuff I shouldn't have. I'm sorry." She smiled hopefully. "Want to forget it ever happened?"

Kurt grinned. "Sure zing." He got off the balcony and stood next to Kitty. "Sorry I called you snobby and uptight."

"And I'm sorry I said you were a big fuzzy pain in the neck."

Kurt stepped closer to Kitty, holding her chin in his hand. "Now zat ve've got zat out of ze vay..." He leaned in to kiss her.

"Whoa!" Kitty backed away from Kurt.

"Vhat, no kiss?" Kurt asked, looking disappointed.

"It's not that, it's just..." Kitty glanced around, "I'm wondering if we're being spied on. Rogue, Jubilee, Tabitha, and Amara have been betting again about if we'll be making up by making out."

Kurt let out a sound that could have suggested annoyance. "Vell, in zat case..." He turned on his image inducer and smiled at Kitty. "Do you vant to get some ice cream? My treat."

Kitty beamed. "Sounds good."

And after Kurt grabbed a twenty-dollar bill, he and Kitty teleported out of the mansion.


	16. Debris

"Nightcrawler! _Nightcrawler_!"

Kitty ran across the stone pavement, not caring as tears began to blur her sight. After a few minutes (though it had felt like hours), Kitty had reached the large pile of rock and rubble. Within seconds, she had phased into the debris, then out again, pulling an unconscious Kurt in her arms.

She set him down and let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding when Kurt groaned softly, blinking himself awake and slowly sitting up.

 _Thank you, God!_ Kitty thought, then she grabbed Kurt into a hug, ignoring his yelp of pain and burying her face into his shoulder.

"Don't _ever_ do that to me again!" she cried, the tears spilling down her face and getting on Kurt's uniform.

Kurt cringed at Kitty's tight hold on him. "Keety, it's alright," he told her. "I'm not dead."

Kitty didn't let go of him; if anything, what he had said had caused her to cry harder.

He took a quick glance at their surroundings, and his eyes widened when he saw the debris Avalanche had buried him under. Kurt hadn't realized how much of the rubble there was, and he hadn't been able to teleport away in time...

 _No vonder Keety's so upset,_ he thought, realizing how close of a call he'd had.

"Hey, Kätzchen...everyzing's okay. I'm fine." Kurt spoke gently to her, trying to get her to calm down. It seemed to be working; Kitty's tears were subsiding, and she was taking deep, shuddering breaths.

After a couple of minutes, Kurt asked, "Feeling better?"

Kitty shrugged against him. "Give me another minute."

Kurt smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry I made you vorry."

He carefully put an arm around her. Soon, she had managed to get herself under control.

"Do you think you can walk?" Kitty asked, letting go of Kurt.

"I zink so." Gingerly, he got to his feet, and let out a pained hiss as a sharp pang shot through his side.

"Mr. McCoy'll have to look at that," Kitty said as she put an arm around Kurt's shoulders, supporting him.

Kurt could only nod.

After a few minutes of walking towards where the rest of the X-Men were waiting for them, Kitty spoke again. "One of these days, I'm gonna _kill_ Lance."

Kurt didn't have a reply for that.


	17. Theme

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Enchanted or any of the songs or characters in it.

Now that Kitty thought about it, maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to go to the movies with Kurt for her seventeenth birthday.

The name of the movie they had seen was _Enchanted_ , and Kitty had had to practically drag Kurt to the theater. He had been complaining nonstop about her wanting him to watch what he called "a chick flick"; he was still rather put out while they were in line for their tickets ("Remind me again vhy I'm here?" "It's my birthday, I'm your girlfriend, and you love me").

As it turned out, _Enchanted_ was quite a good film, with a "fantasy meets reality" plotline, a good dose of humor, and plenty of songs. When they left the theater to go back to the mansion, Kitty spend a few minutes trying to get Kurt to admit that he had liked the movie. The most she got out of him was, "Okay, okay! It vasn't...all zat bad."

All in all, it had been fun. The problem was that Kitty currently had one of the film's songs stuck in her head. One would think that said song would be "That's How You Know," "Ever Ever After," or even "Happy Working Song." Instead, it was "So Close," the bittersweet love song that played during the ballroom scene between Robert and Giselle, the film's two main protagonists.

The fact that Kurt had been taken to humming the song whenever Kitty was with him for the past three days did nothing to help matters.

"Fuzzy Elf!" Kitty exclaimed as they worked on their homework together, Kurt humming "So Close" for the umpteenth time. "Will you cut that out? No matter how many times you hum it, it's not gonna become our theme song!"

Kurt stopped mid-hum and looked up from his math problems. "Now who said I vas trying to do zat?" he asked in a would-be innocent tone of voice.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Why else would you be humming it?"

"Maybe I just like it," Kurt responded, now smiling devilishly at her.

"Or maybe you're just doing it to annoy me," Kitty muttered.

Kurt leaned back in his chair, placing his hands on the back of his head and still smiling. "I've alvays zought you vere cute vhen you vere annoyed. Right now, you're ze cutest I've ever seen you."

Kitty shot a glare at him, but the effect was ruined slightly by the faint blush on her face.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Wagner; now would you mind stopping your humming?"

Kurt pretended to look thoughtful. "Vell, I don't know..."

"Do you want me to phase your chair out from under you?"

"Oh, fine, you vin." Kurt sighed, getting his chair back on all fours.

Kitty giggled. "Thanks," she said, standing up from her seat to give him a peck on the cheek.

"It von't surprise me if you end up singing it," Kurt commented.

"Kurt, I still have the urge to phase you through your seat."

"Shutting up now."

* * *

That night was Kurt and Kitty's night to wash the dishes after dinner. There was an unspoken routine between them whenever they had dish duty: Kitty washed, and Kurt rinsed and put the dishes in the washer.

Kitty sometimes sang while they did this; she had once said that it made the work go faster. So while she was wiping one of the plates with a soapy rag, she hummed tunelessly for a few minutes before absentmindedly deciding on something to sing.

" _Oh how could I face the faceless days if I should lose you_ —"

"Ha!" Kurt crowed suddenly, pointing at her.

Kitty jumped slightly, startled, then she let out a groan as she realized what she had been singing.


	18. Rain

_So much for going to the park,_ Kitty thought, staring out the window as rain steadily continued to fall.

The brunette heard a _bamf_ behind her, but kept her eyes on the window.

"Vhy ze long face, Keety?" Kurt asked.

Kitty finally turned to look at her boyfriend. "It's raining," was her only reply.

"Ja, I can see zat," Kurt said, walking closer to her and sparing a glance out the window. "Vhat about it?"

"We were supposed to go to the park today," Kitty reminded him.

A grin tugged at Kurt's lips. "Oh, vere ve? I didn't know."

"Kurt!"

"Just kidding, Kätzchen."

Kitty sighed, shaking her head. Leave it to Kurt to make jokes when the weather was less than ideal.

" _Anyway_ ," she began, "you can't exactly go outside in the rain."

Kurt paused, putting a hand under his chin. "Huh. Zat's news to me."

"Are you trying to make me laugh?" Kitty folded her arms. "It's not working."

The blue mutant didn't answer at first, but spent several seconds looking up and down at Kitty, then out the window.

"Yeah," Kurt said slowly. "Yeah, maybe I am."

He was starting to smile; Kitty recognized it as his "I'm-planning-some-mischief-and-I'm-gonna-have-fun-while-doing-it" smile.

"Kurt, what are you—"

Before Kitty could finish her question, Kurt had suddenly put his arms around her and teleported.

A second later, Kitty found that they were outside, on the edge of the forest. While it was _raining_.

Kitty opened her mouth, but whatever she was going to say was forgotten when Kurt began tickling her sides.

Loud giggles escaped from Kitty's mouth as Kurt continued his tickle fest. She simply could have phased away, but at that moment, using her powers had not occurred to her.

"Kurt...Kurt, stop!" Kitty managed to squeak out about five minutes later. As he stopped tickling her, she realized that she was now in a sitting position, and Kurt had her lightly pinned against a tree.

His hair, fur, and clothes were soaked, and Kitty could imagine that she didn't look much better.

She shivered. "If we get pneumonia, I am _so_ blaming you." She tried to sound reproachful, but was sure she was failing. Why did Kurt have to be so darn irresistible when he was mischievous?

"It'll be vorth it," he said, his voice quiet. He leaned in for a kiss, but she put a hand on his chest, stopping him.

 _Oh, no, Fuzzy Elf,_ Kitty thought. _You had your fun; now I'll have mine._

"Hold on there, Nightcrawler. You do know I'm seeing someone, right?" Kitty smiled slyly. "Pale skin, blue eyes, really sweet, a lot of fun...a ridiculously sexy German accent..."

With a low growl, Kurt pressed his mouth to Kitty's, fervently kissing her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to pull him closer. Seconds later, Kurt pulled back, leaving Kitty panting slightly.

"Can your boyfriend do zat, liebling?" he asked, a glint of laughter in his eyes.

Kitty smirked. "Not out in public."

She pulled Kurt into another kiss, hardly noticing the rain anymore.


	19. Irritations

When Scott went into the kitchen one afternoon, he was welcomed with the sight of a _very_ irritable Kitty yanking open drawers and cupboards.

"Uh...hey, Kitty," he greeted hesitantly as she slammed a cupboard closed with a frustrated grunt. "Looking for something?"

Kitty didn't turn to look at Scott as she forcibly went through another cupboard. "I _was_ going to get a bowl of ice cream, but some idiot already ate the last of it, so now I have to find something else to eat. Or drink. Preferably something alcoholic."

Scott blinked from behind his sunglasses. "...What?"

The petite brunette went on as if she hadn't heard him. "Do you know if we even have alcohol here?"

"You're still underage," Scott pointed out.

Kitty finally turned to look at him, scowling. "Anything else you want to say?"

"Did Kurt do something?"

"I never said he did. Look, it's really nothing." Kitty turned away to rummage through a drawer.

Scott frowned. "It doesn't seem like 'nothing' to me."

Kitty whirled around, her blue eyes flashing. "Okay, if you want to know, one minute Kurt and I are fine, the next I'm kicking him off my bed and coming in here."

"That didn't really answer—wait a minute," Scott interrupted himself, "what was Kurt doing on your bed?"

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Get your head out of the gutter; we've never done more than make out." She grumbled a few choice phrases under her breath. "And it doesn't help that it's that time of the month..."

Scott cringed slightly. "I'm gonna pretend I did not hear that."

"You asked." And with that, Kitty turned around again to continue looking through the cabinets.

Scott decided it would be better if he just left.

* * *

Kitty was still in the kitchen when Kurt came in a few minutes later.

"Keety?"

" _What_?" she snapped, whipping her head around in his direction.

Kurt flinched back. Scott had been right; Kitty was certainly PMSing.

"Uh..."

"If you don't have something half decent to say, then don't talk to me." Kitty went back to her search. "So if you don't mind, I need to eat something."

"How about some chocolate?" Kurt asked, holding out a chocolate bar in his hand.

"Chocolate?" Kitty repeated, slowly turning to face Kurt with an almost intrigued look on her face.

"Yeah." Kurt nodded. "It's ze last von; you vant it?"

Kitty stared at the chocolate for a moment, then she suddenly smiled and threw her arms around Kurt.

"I love you," she said, giving him a swift kiss and taking the chocolate out of his hand.

Kitty smiled at Kurt again, and he watched as she practically skipped out of the room.

All Kurt could do was shake his head. He wasn't too sure about what he had done to make Kitty angry in the first place, but at least his girlfriend seemed to be back in good spirits.

He vaguely wondered how long it would last as he wandered out of the kitchen.


	20. Pancakes

"So, what do you think?"

Kurt swallowed a piece of pancake with a grimace and looked up at Kitty.

"Keety, how ze heck did you manage to make pancakes zat vere both overcooked _and_ undercooked?"

It was true; the pancakes that Kitty had made and put in front of Kurt were thoroughly burnt on the outside, yet oozing with pancake batter on the inside. Not exactly a good combination.

Kitty smiled sheepishly. "That bad, huh?"

"In a vord, yes." Seeing Kitty's face fall, Kurt quickly added, "But it could be vorse—I still remember ze muffins."

Without waiting for a response, Kurt got up from the dining room table to throw the pancakes in the trash.

"Kurt?"

"Vhat?" he replied as he went to the pantry to get something to eat.

"If I still stink at cooking by the time we're married and have kids, you'll have to be the cook."

Kurt nearly dropped the cereal box he was holding at Kitty's words.

"Vhat did you just say?" he asked as he turned to face her.

"What? About you being the cook?" Kitty wanted to know.

"Before zat." Kurt's face was flushed slightly.

"About being married with kids?"

"Um, yeah."

Kitty shrugged nonchalantly. "It was just a thought. What about it?"

"Nozzing, nozzing..."

Kurt quickly busied himself with making his breakfast.


	21. Chase

It had begun pretty simply. Kurt had nudged Kitty with an elbow and gestured towards the depths of the forest. With a playful grin, he'd asked if she wanted to have a little bet: if she could catch him, he would pay for dinner that night, but if not, she would be the one paying.

Kitty had agreed, and she let Kurt get a few minutes' head-start before chasing after him into the forest.

She soon could see her boyfriend running ahead on all fours, and she ran more quickly, phasing through any trees or bushes that were in her way. As Kitty was gaining on Kurt, he looked over his shoulder.

"Are you feeling confident?" he asked.

"Actually, I am," she replied.

"Vell zen..." Kurt teleported away just as Kitty was about to reach him.

"Try and catch me now!" he finished with a smirk as he reappeared onto a branch of a nearby tree.

Kitty scowled; she should've known Kurt wouldn't make it that easy.

"That's cheating!" she complained.

Kurt merely laughed out loud as he leapt from branch to branch of the trees.

Kitty chuckled in spite of herself as she took off after him again, her eyes following his every move. Kurt was so free-spirited; it was times like these that he reminded Kitty of a wild animal, one that could never be caged.

 _Which is good; caging Kurt would be both unnecessary_ and _pointless,_ Kitty thought.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she saw Kurt jump to the ground and run into a clearing. With a burst of speed, Kitty caught up to Kurt and tackled him, causing them both to fall into the grass.

Kitty sat up so that she was now straddling Kurt, a triumphant smile on her face.

"Looks like you caught me," Kurt said after he turned over onto his back to look up at her.

"Yep." Kitty put her hand on Kurt's cheek, trying to resist the urge to stroke the blue fur there. "You do realize that means you're paying for dinner, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Kurt good-naturedly rolled his eyes. "It's a good zing you're a cheap date, Kätzchen." He paused for a moment. "Uh, Keety?"

"Yes?"

Kurt grinned cheekily. "Not zat zis isn't pleasant, but you can get off me now."


	22. Boundaries

Everyone needed privacy at some point or another, whether it was needing a journal to write down one's innermost thoughts or needing a place to change clothes. In Kitty's case, when your boyfriend had the power to teleport, privacy was something you sorely missed at times.

"Kurt, what did I say about teleporting into my room?" Kitty asked after he had teleported onto her bed, not bothering to look up from the book she was reading.

"Zat I could do it vhenever I vanted?"

"Hardly," Kitty answered with a snort, setting her book aside on the nightstand for the moment. "I said that if you're gonna come in here, it wouldn't kill you to knock first."

Kurt chuckled. "Zis coming from ze girl who phases into _my_ room like she owns ze place."

Kitty inwardly cringed at that, but continued on. "We're not talking about me; we're talking about you. I mean, I could be in here dressing for all you know."

"Now, Kätzchen, you know I vould never teleport in on you getting dressed," Kurt protested, though he was still smiling.

"Oh, you _so_ would," Kitty retorted. "I'm only dating someone who has little regard for boundaries, after all."

Kurt paused thoughtfully. "'Little regard for boundaries,' huh? Zat makes two of us, zen." He smiled again, more devilishly than before, and put a hand beneath her chin and let the tip of his tail rest on her leg.

Kitty felt her face become warm and her heart beat a little faster. How was it that Kurt, who could be an absolute gentleman one minute and such a _guy_ the next, could still affect her like this?

But when he was close enough to kiss her, Kitty phased through her bed at the last minute.

"Vhat?" Kurt exclaimed, staring at Kitty as she phased back up to stand on the carpet.

"Sorry, the moment's gone," she told him cheerfully.

And as Kitty walked out of her room, she thought she heard Kurt mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, "such a tease."


	23. Dreams

_In his dream, Kurt was running as fast as he could on all fours. His heart was racing, and his breath was becoming ragged, but he couldn't stop. If he stopped now..._

_Kurt let out a yelp as he suddenly tripped and fell to the ground. He quickly got up to continue running, but seemed to freeze where he stood._

_Everywhere he looked, there was blazing fire._

No...no! _Kurt thought, having a horrifying feeling that he knew where he was._ I can't be—!

_"Can't you?" came a deep, terrible voice. "You think someone looking as demonic as you would go to heaven? Fool! You're going to be cast into the pits of hell!"_

_Panic surging through his veins, Kurt tried to run again, but found that he couldn't. He looked down, and inhaled sharply. He was bound by rope to a stake. As he frantically struggled, more disembodied voices screamed at him._

_"Demon!"_

_"Freak!"_

_"Atrocity!"_

_"Hell spawn!"_

_"Abomination!"_

_Kurt gritted his teeth, teleported out of his binding, and took off running. He didn't care where he ended up, as long as he could get away from those voices hurling insults at him._

_"Disgrace!"_

_"Monster!"_

_"Damnation!"_

_"Vill you_ shut up _?" Kurt growled as he gave up running for the moment to lean up against a rocky wall._

_"Kurt? What's going on?"_

_Kurt's head shot up to see Kitty standing before him._

_"Keety!" Relief flooded Kurt as he rushed over to her. But as he was about to touch her, Kitty spontaneously combusted, reduced to a heap of ashes right before his eyes._

_"NO!" Kurt screamed._

_The first voice chuckled darkly. "How can you save her when you can't even save yourself?"_

_The ground gave way beneath Kurt, who screamed again. Far, far below him, he could see a rushing river...but hell wasn't supposed to have any water..._

Kurt suddenly woke up, sitting up straight in bed and breathing heavily. A moment passed as his heartbeat slowed down.

 _It vas only a dream,_ Kurt told himself. He was still at the mansion, safe in his room, and as far as he knew, Kitty was sleeping peacefully in hers. There was nothing to be afraid of...it was only a dream...

 _Only a dream,_ Kurt repeated, stifling a yawn as he got up from his bed and headed to the kitchen. Now that he was awake, he might as well grab a snack to take his mind off of his nightmare.

To his surprise, when he entered the kitchen, he saw that the lights were on, and that Kitty was at the counter, getting some graham crackers out of a box and putting them onto a plate.

"Oh, hey, Kurt," Kitty greeted when she noticed his arrival.

Kurt rubbed at his eye. "Hi, Keety. Vhat are you doing up?"

Kitty shrugged. "Couldn't sleep," she replied, but she didn't elaborate. Instead, she said, "You can have some of these crackers, if you want."

Kurt mumbled his agreement, then he followed Kitty as she took the plate of graham crackers and went to the dining room to sit at the table.

"So, what are _you_ doing up?" Kitty asked after she and Kurt had split the crackers between them.

Kurt frowned as he bit into a cracker. "I voke up from a bad dream."

"Oh." Kitty paused momentarily. "How bad was it?"

"Just some of ze usual," Kurt said after he had swallowed, trying to sound nonchalant. "Being condemned to hell. Being tied to a stake." His throat seemed to clench, and all feigned casualness was forgotten. "Losing you..."

Kurt closed his eyes, trying to ignore the lump that was forming in his throat. His eyes opened when he heard Kitty get up from her seat across the table and felt her wrap her arms around him from behind.

"You look like you could use a hug," she murmured softly, resting her chin on his shoulder.

For a few brief seconds, Kurt stiffened, vividly remembering his dream, how Kitty had suddenly burst into flames right before he could so much as stroke her cheek. But he soon relaxed into her embrace, and they stayed that way for several minutes. A small, content smile crept onto Kurt's face.

"Feeling better?" Kitty asked, releasing him.

"Ja," Kurt answered. "Zanks, Keety."

"No problem." Kitty went back to her chair and helped herself to her graham crackers, chewing thoughtfully.

"And I thought my subconscious was morbid," she commented. "Some of my worst dreams are about losing control of my powers. I'll phase through the ground and won't be able to phase back up. And sometimes..." Kitty hesitated, nibbling on a cracker.

"Vould you razzer not talk about it?" Kurt asked.

"No, no, it's alright," Kitty assured him. "Sometimes I dream about watching everyone die; for some reason, they always save you for last."

Kurt nearly choked on his last cracker. "I zink I know vhat you mean."

Kitty and Kurt soon went back to the kitchen to put their plates in the sink, then Kitty walked with Kurt as he headed to his room.

"Goodnight, Keety," he said once they made it to his door.

"Goodnight, Kurt." Smiling, Kitty stepped closer to give him a chaste kiss. "I think we'll both sleep well tonight."

As she walked away from Kurt, he couldn't help but smile himself. He entered his room, the bed looking welcoming, and got underneath the covers. The memory of the dream still lingered at the back of his mind, but it no longer held any horror.

Kurt was asleep within seconds, and his dreams were all about Kitty.


	24. Compliments

"And _this_ is why I usually keep my hair up," Kitty muttered as she stood in front of her bedroom mirror, brushing the tangles out of her brown hair.

She frowned at Kurt, who was sitting on her bed. "And I don't know why you'd want to watch."

"You offer a nice view, Keety," Kurt said simply.

"If you say so." Kitty spent a few more minutes brushing her hair until she was satisfied that it was free of any tangles or knots. When she opened one of the drawers of her vanity table to look for a ponytail holder, Kurt spoke.

"You don't need von of zose hair zings."

Kitty turned to look at Kurt. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he said, standing up from the bed and smiling. "Do you really need to spend so much time on your hair?"

"Uh, yes?"

Kurt chuckled, putting an arm around Kitty. "You know you're alvays beautiful."

"Is that a compliment or a joke?"

Kurt's smile faded slightly. "Kätzchen, vould I joke about somezing like zis?"

The corners of Kitty's mouth twitched upward. "Well...maybe not."

Kurt slowly ran a hand through her hair. "Let your hair down more often, liebling," he said quietly. "I like it."

Kitty blushed as Kurt let go of her. As he teleported out of her room, presumably to go get some breakfast, she went back to the opened drawer.

 _Hmm, maybe I will leave my hair down,_ Kitty decided, closing the drawer. _At least for today._


	25. Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The lyrics in this one-shot are from "What About Now" by Daughtry.

Kurt and Kitty walked into the gymnasium of Bayville High, where the end-of-the-year prom was in full swing. The place had been decorated with red and white streamers, balloons, and a banner or two, there was a long table off to the side that had snacks and drinks, and music was playing from a stereo sound system in a corner.

Kurt idly tugged at the black tux he was wearing and took a few seconds to admire his girlfriend. Kitty was dressed in a pale pink, sleeveless dress that almost reached the floor, with elbow-length gloves of the same color.

"Vell, princess, shall ve dance?" Kurt asked only half-jokingly, offering her his hand.

Kitty smiled back, taking Kurt's hand in hers. "Why else would I be here?"

As they walked to the dance floor to join dozens of other pairs, Kitty continued. "So, if I'm supposed to be a princess, does that make you my knight in shining armor?"

"More like a knight in fuzzy armor," Kurt answered, "but vhat's ze difference?"

Kitty put her hands on his shoulders with a slight grin on her face. "Okay then, knight in _fuzzy_ armor. Any chance of the party being crashed by inter-dimensional dinosaurs?"

"No chance at all." Kurt smirked playfully as he put his hands around her waist. "Vhy? Hoping I'll come to your rescue?"

Kitty snorted. "A nice sentiment, sir knight, but your princess just so happens to be a _warrior_ princess."

Kurt had to laugh at that. "I knew zere vas a reason I loved you."

* * *

For about half an hour or so, the couple swayed and spun to the music, paying no mind to anyone but each other. When a song Kurt didn't recognize began, he thought of asking if Kitty wanted to take a break, but decided against it when he saw her eyes brighten (apparently, she knew this song).

Kitty looked thoughtful as the song played.

" _What about now? What about today?_ " she sang softly. " _What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?_ "

Kitty ignored the questioning look Kurt was giving her as she placed her head on his chest, continuing to sing. " _What if our love never went away? What if it's lost behind words we could never find?_ "

She lifted her head to look at Kurt again. " _Baby, before it's too late, what about now?_ "

Kurt paused for a moment as they stopped dancing. "I believe ze expression is, 'A penny for your zoughts'?"

Kitty shrugged. "Just thinking about the future, I guess."

"Anyzing in particular?"

"Only whether or not I'll fit into your suitcase if you ever go away to college," Kitty joked weakly.

"You'd do zat? I'm touched." Kurt then decided to change the subject. "So, Kätzchen, having fun so far?"

"Yeah, it's been nice." Kitty smiled. "Want to dance some more?"

Kurt thought this over. "Actually, I zink I have somezing else in mind. Come on."

"Where are we going?" Kitty asked as he took her hand and led her out into the hall.

"You'll see." And with that, Kurt picked Kitty up bridal style (she let out a surprised, "Whoa!") and teleported.

A few minutes later, Kurt and Kitty were at the park, standing in front of a pond. He set her down on her feet. The moon was reflected in the water, and all that could be heard was the sound of crickets.

"Why are we out here?" Kitty asked.

"Just a spur-of-ze-moment zing," Kurt said with a shrug. He turned off his image inducer and picked Kitty up again, spinning her around as she laughed.

"So vhat do you say, my lady?" Kurt asked after he'd pulled Kitty close to him, smiling brightly. "Von last dance before ve go home?"

Kitty grinned back. "Absolutely, sir knight."

And they danced, with the crickets' chirps being their only music.


	26. Gaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life.

Kitty leaned back on the couch as she watched Kurt press the buttons on his controller and go about his morning farm chores on the life simulation videogame he was playing, _Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life_. The game had been a present given to her last Christmas, but she'd caught her boyfriend starting a new game on it last week and figured it wouldn't hurt to let him play it. Since then, Kurt had become pretty addicted to the game, and while Kitty sometimes gave him advice (like which seeds to grow for each season), she mostly let him figure stuff out on his own.

After Kurt's player character finished tending to the animals and crops, he left the farm and headed to where the local inn was located. Once he opened the door, a cut scene was triggered. An overweight traveling salesman was telling the innkeeper and Kurt's character about the new diet he was trying out.

After almost a minute through the scene, Kurt let out a snort. "Sorry, Van, but I don't believe you vere ever on a diet." He quickly pressed the A button on the controller.

Kitty straightened up suddenly. "Kurt!"

He turned to look at her. "Vhat?"

"You just pressed the wrong dialogue option."

"Vait, zere vere dialogue options?" Kurt quickly looked back at the TV screen. Sure enough, sad music had suddenly began to play, and Van had gone from happy to depressed in no time at all.

As the salesman walked out of the inn, ending the scene, Kurt shifted uncomfortably. "I can't believe I actually feel bad for upsetting a bunch of pixels."

"Aw, you're such a softie," Kitty teased, reaching out to nudge his shoulder.

After a few minutes (during which Kurt had given the innkeeper and his wife a couple of gifts to increase his friendship with them), Kitty said, "Hey, Kurt, you'll be getting the Blue Feather soon. Any idea on which of the marriageable girls you'll give it to?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know. Probably Celia, she seems to be ze nicest."

"And I suppose her having my hair color doesn't hurt at all?" Kitty asked, grinning a little.

"Maybe," Kurt replied, turning to her with a grin of his own. "At least zen you von't have much reason to be jealous."

Kitty shook her head, scoffing. "Right. I'm jealous that my boyfriend's off courting fictional girls."

Their banter would have continued had Kurt's character's stomach not chosen that moment to growl.

"Are you kidding me?" Kurt exclaimed, looking at the screen. "Didn't I just feed virtual me ten real-life minutes ago?"

Kurt had his character walk to the bar, and when he tried to open the door, another cut scene was triggered.

"Oh, look, Muffy's second heart event," Kitty commented as the blonde barmaid who was rather reminiscent of Tabitha exited the bar and greeted Kurt's character.

"I assure you, Keety, I have no idea how zat happened." But the corners of Kurt's mouth were twitching upward. "Now let's see vhat Muffy has to say."


	27. Meeting

Kitty and Kurt were within ten paces from the house when the former—who'd been fretting about this meeting for the last three hours of the flight—abruptly stopped walking.

"Is it too much to ask if we call the Professor to take us home?" Kitty asked, turning around and starting to head in the other direction, her suitcase in hand.

She didn't take more than a few steps before Kurt took her by the arm. "Keety—"

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Kitty exclaimed, phasing out of Kurt's grip and turning around again to look at him with a panicked expression. "How on Earth could you've thought this was a good idea? Can't we just go home and forget about the whole thing?"

"Keety!" Kurt dropped his own suitcase and took her by the shoulders, talking over her. "I'm taking you to meet my _parents_ , not Satan. Vhat are you so vorried about?"

Kitty cast her eyes to the ground, biting her lower lip. "What if they don't like me?"

She heard Kurt sigh. "Kätzchen, look at me," he said, his voice softening.

Kitty did so, and Kurt continued. "You're smart, you're pretty, you're chatty, and you can put up with me for more zan an hour at a time." He smiled at that last part. "Trust me, zey'll like you."

Kurt took his hands from Kitty's shoulders, picked up his suitcase, and guided her up the dirt path that led to his adopted parents' house. As he knocked on the perfectly ordinary front door, Kitty was still trying to soothe her anxiety.

 _Just calm down,_ she thought. _It's just Kurt's parents. All you have to do is be yourself and everything will be fine._

Kitty managed a smile once the door opened to reveal an elderly couple. The woman greeted Kurt happily, reaching out to hug him, and proceeded to speak rapidly in German.

Despite how nervous she was, Kitty couldn't help but giggle; she wasn't too fluent in the language, but unless she was mistaken, the woman was fussing over Kurt as though he hadn't had a good meal in weeks.

"Let him breathe, Johanna," the man next to the woman said in strongly accented English.

"It's good to see you, too, Mom," Kurt told her once she let him go. He took a step backward and gestured to the brunette next to him. "Uh, Mom, Dad, zis is my girlfriend Keety."

"Pleased to meet you," Kitty said, politely exchanging handshakes with Mr. and Mrs. Wagner.

"Likevise; Kurt's told us a lot about you." Mrs. Wagner smiled warmly.

"Good things, I hope."

Mr. Wagner looked amused. "Let's put it zis vay: if ve had a euro for every time Kurt has sung your praises in his letters, ve'd be rich."

"Now, Henry, don't embarrass zem," Mrs. Wagner chided, then turned to address Kurt and Kitty. "Come on in; dinner's almost ready."

Once Kitty and Kurt had gotten inside the house and the latter had turned off his image inducer, Mrs. Wagner had told Kurt to show Kitty to the guest room before presumably heading to the kitchen, followed by her husband.

Kitty looked around as Kurt led her through the living room. It was a small, but rather cozy room, complete with a couch on one side, a fireplace and a rug opposite it, a small TV set in front, and a bookcase fully stocked with books.

"You have two Bibles?" Kitty asked suddenly, going over to the bookcase for a closer look.

"Ja," Kurt answered. "Von in German, von in English. It vas part of my schooling; Mom had me learn English long before I came to ze Institute."

"Uh-huh." Kitty paused, turning to face Kurt. "Well, your parents seem to like me so far."

Kurt patted her shoulder. "Come on, vhy vouldn't zey? If it helps, just zink of zem as Logan and Ororo."

Kitty laughed. "But your dad sounds a lot nicer than Logan." She smiled slightly. "Alright, I'll try to stop worrying."

* * *

After Kurt had shown Kitty the guest room, it was time to go to the dining room to eat. Although she'd assured Kurt that she would try to relax, Kitty was focusing more on her plate than on talking with his parents. For awhile, Kurt carried most of the conversation, telling Mr. and Mrs. Wagner about what he'd been up to lately, what the other X-Men were like, and about some of their adventures (Kitty noticed that he tended to downplay some of the more dangerous moments of said adventures, but made no comment about it).

When Kurt started talking about the first time the X-Men fought against Wanda, Kitty suddenly blurted out that he'd ended up teleporting both of them up a tree, and she soon found herself more active in the conversation. Eventually, Mr. and Mrs. Wagner started asking Kitty questions about herself, and Kitty felt comfortable enough to answer them.

It was when Kitty had her mouth full of mashed potatoes that Mrs. Wagner decided to ask, "So, Keety...if it's not too personal, how do you get along vith your parents?"

Kitty swallowed her food down before answering. "No, it's okay; I get along with my parents well enough." She paused thoughtfully. "Of course, if someone asked me that when my powers first manifested, I would've said things were pretty tense between us."

"How so?" Mr. Wagner questioned.

"Well, I led a relatively normal life in a Jewish family until I turned fifteen—"

"You're Jewish?" the older man interrupted, sounding curious.

"Yeah, I am," Kitty replied. She glanced at Kurt. "I guess you didn't tell them that?"

Kurt started fiddling with his napkin. "It slipped my mind."

"You sound a little defensive, Fuzzy Elf," Kitty teased.

"I do not!"

Mr. Wagner let out a snort of laughter, and Mrs. Wagner chuckled a little at the couple's exchange.

Kurt looked at his parents with a slightly put-out expression. "Who's side are you on?"

"Anyway," Kitty began, deciding to get back to the topic at hand, "by the time I was fifteen, I started falling through my bed. It really freaked me and my parents out, and they—especially my dad—figured that if we didn't talk about it, it would go away. Well, obviously, it didn't, and I soon moved out to go to the Institute."

She grinned at Kurt. "And the rest, as they say, is history."

* * *

"So, how am I doing?" Kitty asked as she and Kurt (who'd helped his parents clear the table and wash the dishes after dinner was over) sat down on the bed in the guest room.

"My mom's exact vord to describe you vas 'lovely,'" Kurt replied. "And Dad seems to zink you're a pistol; he asked if I zought I could handle you."

"Are you kidding?" Kitty laughed. "Does that mean he approves of me?"

"If he's making jokes at my expense, zen yes."

Kitty smiled softly. "I'm glad they like me."

"Me, too." With a smile of his own, Kurt put his arms around Kitty and kissed her. Kitty's hands went to his shoulders and she kissed back for a few seconds, but broke it off before it could get heated.

"Keep it in check, Kurt," Kitty said, smiling amusedly at the disappointed look on his face. "The last thing your parents need to see is their son making out with his girlfriend. And in the room she's staying in, too."

Kurt let out an exaggerated sigh. "I hate it vhen you're right."

"I know," Kitty agreed cheerfully, leaning into him.

He didn't say anything as he regained his hold on her.


	28. Parents

"Y'know, Kurt can't really be called my new boyfriend; we've been dating for almost a year now."

As Kurt entered the kitchen, he paid only half attention to the phone conversation Kitty was having with her mother, more interested in finding something to eat for lunch.

Nearly five minutes later, Kurt was finished making a PB&J sandwich when Kitty asked, "Hey, Kurt, would you like to come with me to my parents' house on Friday?"

"Sure," Kurt said vaguely. A few seconds later, he suddenly realized what Kitty had asked him; it was a good thing he hadn't taken a bite of his sandwich, since he undoubtedly would've choked.

As it was, his eyes had widened significantly. "Vait, vhat?"

Kitty quickly put her cell phone back to her ear. "Okay, Mom, we'll see you then. I love you; bye."

She ended the call and looked up to find Kurt staring at her, repeatedly opening and closing his mouth.

"Keety, do you mind telling me vhat ze heck I just agreed to?" he finally asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"I told my mom that we'd go visit her and Dad this Friday." Kitty frowned slightly. "You're not okay with it?"

"Remember how vorried you vere vhen I took you to meet my parents? Multiply zat by about a hundred, and zat's how _not_ okay I am."

"It's not about your looks, is it?" Kitty asked. "Because I've told my parents about how blue and furry you are."

"Actually, no, not exactly," Kurt admitted. That wasn't to say he wasn't at all worried as to how Kitty's parents would react to his true appearance, but frankly, that was the least of his concerns.

"But Keety," he continued, "I vas raised as a Catholic, and I grew up in Germany. And you're Jewish. I'll be shocked if your parents don't decide to kill me on sight!"

Kitty blinked in disbelief. "Kurt, this is the twenty-first century, not World War Two!"

"And vhat do you zink your parents vill say vhen zey find out zeir daughter is going out vith a guy who isn't a Jew in any sense of ze vord?" Kurt was now sounding very agitated. "Let alone a guy who spent most of his life living in a country vhere over six million of ze Jewish people vere killed?"

"Look, if it makes you feel better," Kitty said, getting up from the chair she'd been sitting in and walking up to Kurt to take his hand in hers, "whatever my parents may think of you, they're bound to like you a lot more than they would've liked Lance."

Well, that was a comforting thought.

"I'm guessing you never told your parents about him?" Kurt asked, for lack of anything else to say.

Kitty scoffed. "Are you kidding? I may have been stupid and naïve enough to date Lance for three months, but I was at least smart enough to not mention to my parents I was going out with the same guy who tried to bring my old school down on us."

Kurt momentarily paused, looking down at the sandwich still in his other hand. He decided it was now time for a subject change.

"Do you vant half of zis?" he questioned, holding up the sandwich to Kitty.

She agreed, and as Kurt went to get a knife from one of the kitchen drawers, he found himself thinking that it wouldn't hurt to make a will. Just in case he didn't survive on Friday.

* * *

Three days and one two-hour flight later, Kurt stared without really seeing the house Kitty was leading him to. He'd had over seventy-two hours to think about meeting Kitty's parents, and although his worry wasn't as strong as it was initially, it continued to gnaw at him.

"You'll worry yourself sick if you keep this up." Kitty's voice broke into his thoughts as they stopped at the front porch.

"I can be anxious if I vant to," Kurt said, turning his gaze to her.

Kitty grasped him by the shoulder and turned him so that he was fully facing her. "Kurt, listen," she said quietly. "This might not be the best 'meet the parents' in history, but it doesn't need to be the worst, either."

She smiled. "Just try to relax and be your sweet, charming self. Can you do that for me?"

Inwardly, Kurt felt a warm glow at the praise. "Yeah, I zink I can," he answered, his expression brightening.

Kitty went to ring the doorbell, and it wasn't long before the door was opened by a woman who was most certainly her mother. The woman's hair was a lighter shade of brown than Kitty's, but Kurt noticed that her eyes were the exact same color and shape as her daughter's.

Kurt's smile broadened a little as the two females greeted and hugged each other, and it didn't fade when Kitty's mother looked at him.

"So, you must be the boyfriend Kitty's emailed about," she said.

"Zat I am," Kurt replied cheerfully.

"Yeah; Mom, this is Kurt Wagner," Kitty introduced. "Kurt, this is my mother, Theresa Pryde."

Kurt extended his hand, and Mrs. Pryde frowned slightly when she took it. His smile faded; had he done something wrong already?

But the older woman's frown was quickly replaced by a smile. "Kitty wasn't joking about the fur, was she?"

Relieved, Kurt let out a small laugh. "Nor about ze fingers, I assume."

* * *

Over the next ten minutes or so, Kurt decided that Mrs. Pryde seemed to approve of him. She hadn't freaked out too much when, soon after entering the living room, he'd turned off the image inducer to reveal his blue furry self (she'd looked at him strangely for a little bit, but that was a much better reaction than Kurt had anticipated), and so far, she hadn't said a word about his German heritage, which could only be a plus.

"Hey, Mom," Kitty said abruptly after Mrs. Pryde had finished talking about one of their relatives, "I've been meaning to ask—where's Dad? Is he still at the bank?"

"He called earlier and said he was running a little late," Mrs. Pryde said, "but he should be here any—"

The front door opened at that moment. Kurt quickly stood up from the chair he'd been getting comfortable in to see a tall, broad-shouldered man with graying brown hair walk into the living room.

The man smiled at his wife and daughter as the latter two stood up as well to greet him.

"Glad you could made it, Kitty," he said, giving her a hug. "And who's this?" The man had now noticed Kurt for the first time, and he eyed him with an unreadable expression.

Kurt looked away from Kitty's father, his earlier worries suddenly coming back in full force.

"Dad, this is Kurt," Kitty was saying. "I said he'd be coming a few days ago."

"Kurt Wagner," the blue teleporter blurted out, looking back at the older man. "I'm Keety's boyfriend, but I'm sure you already knew zat." At this point, Kurt's accent was sounding even thicker than usual. "Oh, and in case you vere vondering—yes, I'm breathing properly; yes, I've alvays looked like a fuzzy blue demon; no, I didn't eat nozzing but blueberries as a child..."

 _Shut up already!_ Kurt thought. _You don't need to make Keety's dad zink you're an idiot, too!_

An awkward silence followed Kurt's rambling; a purple blush colored his face.

"Carmen, I think now would be a good time for tea," Mrs. Pryde said, breaking the silence.

"Tea sounds great," Mr. Pryde agreed; and as the couple left for the kitchen, Kitty gave Kurt a very confused look.

"What was that about breathing properly?" she whispered.

Kurt's shoulders slumped. "I'm nervous! I zought your dad vas gonna get a shotgun!"

* * *

In the kitchen, Kurt stood off to the side with a cup of tea in his hands, his face still a little purple from his inane babbling earlier. Kitty was pouring herself some tea at the counter and chatting with her parents.

Kurt wasn't bothering to keep up with the conversation, preferring to stare at his tea and wonder if he could find a hole to throw himself into, until he thought he heard Kitty address him.

"Vhat'd you say, Keety?" he asked, snapping his gaze to where she was standing with Mr. and Mrs. Pryde.

Kitty smiled slightly. "Just making sure you're still with us. It's not like you to be so quiet."

"Vell, in my defense," Kurt said, "I vouldn't vant to say anyzing zat'll cause ze X-Men to be short a member."

"That could be arranged," Mr. Pryde said casually.

" _Vhat_?" Kurt squawked, staring at the other man.

"Carmen!" Mrs. Pryde chided.

"I'm kidding," Mr. Pryde insisted with a smile.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Oh, now I'm sure you and Kurt will be getting along."

Kurt doubted that the possibility of Mr. Pryde killing him before the day was through was something that ought to be joked about, but the corners of his mouth turned upward despite himself. Who knew Kitty's father had a sense of humor of some kind?

"Well, Kitty, it's not everyday you bring someone home with you." Mr. Pryde looked at Kurt as he continued. "Let alone a teenage boy you're romantically involved with."

A few seconds of silence passed as Kurt stared back at Mr. Pryde. _Vhat vouldn't I give to be telepathic right now,_ he thought. Still, he couldn't see any hostility or judgment in the older man's eyes, and he supposed he might as well enjoy the fact that the ice seemed to at least have cracked.

"So," Kurt began, "vhat do you do for fun around here? Got any movies?" he added.

Mr. Pryde smiled. "We have a collection of them back in the living room."

"Really? Any movies vith sword fighting in zem?" Kurt asked hopefully.

"Why don't you see for yourself?"

And with that encouraging answer, Kurt followed Mr. Pryde out of the kitchen, just in time to hear Kitty's mother say to her daughter, "I think they'll get along just fine."


	29. Thoughts

"How would this look?" Kitty asked as she pulled a short, sleeveless black dress from a rack and held it out in front of her.

Jean couldn't suppress a smile. "All I can say is if Kurt saw you in that, he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off you."

Kitty flushed pink. "Yeah, you're probably right," she said, putting the dress back.

"Unless, of course, that's the idea," Jean continued. "Your first dating anniversary _is_ right around the corner, after all."

The brunette seemed to blush even harder as she realized what her friend was getting at. "Jean!"

"You can't tell me sleeping with Kurt hasn't crossed your mind." Jean's voice took on a teasing tone. "Just so you know, I've heard him thinking about taking things further once or twice before."

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "What, are you a voyeur or something now?"

"Hardly," Jean said, sounding serious. "Do you realize how loud your thoughts can get when you and Kurt start making out?"

"Uh, no?" Kitty said. _Sorry,_ she added mentally.

"Don't worry about it," Jean answered out loud, shrugging. "They're just more difficult to block out, is all. An occupational hazard of being a telepath."

Not to mention that Kurt and Kitty's more...intense thoughts during particularly heated moments could cause Jean to blush as red as her hair (to be fair, they weren't too unlike the thoughts that went through her and Scott's minds during _their_ intimate moments, but still), although she refrained from actually saying that.

Kitty walked over to the next rack of clothes and proceeded to rifle through it.

"So... _have_ you and Kurt ever talked about sleeping together?" Jean asked.

Kitty paused, as if wondering if she should reply. Finally, she said, "Yeah, once, when we first started dating. We agreed to wait."

"Until marriage?" Jean guessed. That wouldn't surprise her, although a part of Jean (and it was a very small part) privately thought that, when it came to Kurt and Kitty's relationship, they certainly took their sweet time. It had taken Kitty almost a year to realize she loved Kurt, then another six months or so for them to get together. The pace of a snail would've been faster.

"Probably. Religious reasons, y'know?" Kitty went back to going through the clothes. "Besides, we're still too young, and there was no way I wanted to end up pregnant at sixteen."

"And Logan would castrate Kurt if he caught you two going at it."

Kitty grinned. "That, too."

Both girls laughed.

"Ooh!" Kitty pulled out a long-sleeved, V-necked shirt. "What do you think of this?"

"It'd look cute on you," Jean said with a smile. _And quite fitting,_ she thought, noticing the bright blue color of the garment.

"I think I'll try it on," Kitty decided, and she and Jean began to make their way to a dressing room.


	30. Future

Kurt let out a contented hum as Kitty idly stroked the fur on the back of his hand. They were at the local drive-in theater, sitting in the front seats of one of the X-Men's many cars. A medium order of French fries (leftovers from Kurt and Kitty's one-year anniversary dinner) was sitting between them in one of the cup holders.

The holographically-hidden mutant frowned when Kitty took her hand away. "Vhy'd you stop?" Kurt asked, tearing his eyes away from the movie screen outside to look at her.

Kitty snapped from whatever thoughts she'd been lost in. "Huh? Oh." She paused. "You don't mind me petting you?"

Kurt smiled. "Kätzchen, as far as I'm concerned, you can pet me as much as you vant. Vhat vere you zinking about, anyvay?"

Kitty grabbed a French fry and ate it before answering. "Kurt, what do you see for us in five years?"

Kurt blinked, his smile fading. "...Vhat?"

"I'm serious. It's been exactly a year ago since you first asked me out. Do you think we'd...I don't know...be married in five years?"

 _Keety vants to have zis conversation now?_ Kurt found himself thinking. The truth was that he hadn't thought a whole lot about the future of their relationship, but now that Kitty had brought it up...

"What? Is the thought of being married really that out there?" Kitty asked when he didn't respond right away, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"No! No, not at all," Kurt said at once. He paused momentarily, getting his thoughts together.

"I zink ve'd still be togezzer in five years, but maybe not married," Kurt said finally. "Doesn't mean ve vouldn't tie ze knot eventually, zough."

Kitty's smile at that moment seemed to light up the car's interior. "Good answer."

She reached out to touch Kurt's hand again, and the couple turned their attention back to the movie screen.


	31. Distraction

Summer vacation was quickly drawing to a close, and Kurt had decided to take advantage of this fact by spending his time at the Institute's swimming pool. He had only been in the water a few minutes when he heard Kitty's voice behind him.

"Oh, hey, Kurt. What a coincidence, finding you here."

"Hey, Keet—" Kurt began, turning around. But as he caught sight of his girlfriend, he suddenly forgot what he was going to say, his train of thought derailing. All he could do was stare at her.

Kitty was wearing nothing but a lavender bikini. Kurt had seen her in bathing suits before, but the swimsuits she wore were usually one-piece. He roved his gaze over every curve of her body; a tiny part of his mind reminded him that he probably shouldn't be staring at her so openly, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

And apparently, Kitty wasn't all that bothered by the attention. "You like it?" she asked, smiling mischievously.

"Uh-huh," Kurt managed to say, his throat feeling dry.

Kitty laid down on a beach towel (Kurt's brain had just registered that she'd must have spread the towel on the ground before she'd greeted him) before saying, "Kurt, would you mind putting sunscreen on my back?"

 _Vould I?_ he thought dazedly, getting out of the pool and walking to where Kitty was. She turned over onto her back, gesturing toward the sunscreen she'd set off to the side before crossing her arms in front of her.

Kurt squirted some of the sunscreen onto his hand and rubbed it into Kitty's back. His breath hitched; had her skin always been this smooth? And were his ears mistaken, or was that a sigh or a moan he just heard from her?

He stopped his ministrations and leaned closer to her ear. "You're enjoying zis, aren't you, Kätzchen?" Kurt asked quietly.

Kitty shivered and turned her head slightly to look up at him, blushing. "No more than you are." She smirked a little, the blush fading. "And hey, maybe if you're real nice to me, I might let you put sunscreen on my legs."

Kurt looked down at the pale, creamy skin of Kitty's legs. "I'll have to hold you to zat."

"I'm sure you will. In the meantime," Kitty turned her gaze to the pool, "how about a swim?"

Without a word, Kurt took Kitty's hand and teleported them into the water.


	32. Recovery

"How you feeling?" Kitty asked Kurt as she entered the infirmary.

"I'd feel better if ze Professor vould let me pull zese bandages off and get out of bed," Kurt admitted, slowly sitting up in the hospital bed he'd spent the last couple of weeks lying in. He winced slightly and clutched at his side.

"You're still not fully recovered yet," Kitty chided, grabbing a stool to sit beside her boyfriend. "Y'know, from getting a concussion and two broken ribs because you got thrown into a wall."

"Vell, at least my head doesn't hurt anymore," Kurt said.

Kitty made a noncommittal noise, taking Kurt's hand in hers. A moment of silence passed.

"Kurt," Kitty began abruptly, a worried frown on her face, "when I saw Lance use his powers to smash you into that brick wall..." Her voiced trailed off as a lump came to her throat.

Kurt gently squeezed her hand. "Keety, it'll take more zan a crazy ex-boyfriend to do me in. Ve're X-Men—beating ze odds and cheating death is vhat ve do."

"Yeah, but we're not invincible," Kitty protested, blinking back the sudden sting of tears. "What if Lance—or anyone else, for that matter—gets a lucky shot on you?"

She stopped speaking, biting her lower lip. _I know I wouldn't be able to handle it if that happened._

Kurt smiled softly, giving Kitty hand another squeeze. "Do you honestly believe I'd let myself go down zat easily?"

Kitty tentatively smiled back. "No, of course not. Doesn't stop me from worrying, though."

Another moment of silence passed.

"So...is there anything you need?" Kitty asked presently, withdrawing her hand. "A glass of water or something?"

"No, not really." Kurt shook his head, then smiled playfully. "But now zat you mention it, a back massage vould be nice."

Kitty couldn't help but laugh at that. _Oh, Kurt, you know just what to say, don't you?_ she thought.

"Nice try, Fuzzy Elf," she said out loud, getting up from the stool and heading out of the room. When she got to the door, Kitty turned around and added, "But for right now, just keep on concentrating on getting better."


	33. Annoyances

"She had no right to do that!" Kitty fumed as she stalked into the main hall.

"Keety, it's Tabitha; she flirts vith anyvon who's male and alive," Kurt was saying patiently as he followed his irate girlfriend. "She didn't mean anyzing by it."

Kitty whirled around to face him. "Maybe so, but did it have to be _right in front of me_?"

A little while ago at breakfast, Kitty had to endure Tabitha flirting her head off with Kurt. That in of itself would be enough to make Kitty's blood boil, but the fact that Tabitha had basically ignored her presence was equally aggravating.

Kitty had interrupted Tabitha's stream of flattery by irritably saying, "Hey, Boom-Boom, if you're gonna hit on Kurt, you might want to do it while _his girlfriend_ isn't in hearing range."

Seriously, what kind of girl flirted with a guy while his girlfriend was right there? And Tabitha's only reply had been a very amused, "Well, looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed."

At present, Kurt put an arm around Kitty's shoulders. "Hey, come on. It's not like I encouraged her."

That made Kitty's anger cool. It was true; all Kurt did was try to good-naturedly shrug Tabitha off without seeming rude.

"Yeah, I know." Kitty sighed. "But it's still annoying."

Kurt let go of Kitty, smiling. "Vell, I've had enough excitement for von morning; I zink it's about time for you to get ready for school."

* * *

Now that Kurt was no longer attending Bayville High, it had become something of a ritual for him to pick Kitty up after school was over. By the time the bell signaling the end of the day rang, Kitty's mood had long improved from that morning.

Soon after she greeted Kurt in the schoolyard, they were about to head to his car when Kitty heard an unpleasantly familiar voice call out, "Oh, _hello_ there!"

Her good mood now shattered, Kitty resisted the urge to groan. _Great, it's Riley, and somehow I doubt it's me she wants to talk to,_ she thought dryly, gripping Kurt's arm as the aforementioned girl hurried up to them.

Kitty's suspicions were proven correct when Riley turned her full attention to the holographically-hidden mutant.

"Kurt, is it? I don't believe we've ever been introduced. The name's Riley." She smiled, putting a hand on her hip and deliberately leaning forward to show off her cleavage.

Kitty rolled her eyes, glaring at Riley's obscene attempt at flirtation. To his credit, Kurt appeared to be pretending not to notice.

"Riley, huh?" he asked rhetorically, giving Kitty a quick, questioning look, which Kitty interpreted as him asking if this was one of the two girls who'd bullied her at her old schools.

At Kitty's slight nod, Kurt went on. "I zink I may have heard about you before."

Riley continued to smile in what she must have thought was a seductive manner, flicking a lock of her wavy, light brown hair. "Probably not enough. If you're interested—"

"And I'm not," Kurt cut her off, his voice polite but firm. Not waiting for Riley to respond, he turned to smile at Kitty. "Let's get out of here, Kätzchen."

Kurt and Kitty started to walk away.

"You'll change your mind sooner or later, hot stuff!" Riley called from behind them. " _I_ can show you a better time!"

Kitty stopped dead in her tracks. Tabitha flirting with Kurt was one thing. It was annoying, but ultimately harmless. This, as far as Kitty was concerned, was a whole different can of worms and she was not going to put up with it.

"You go on ahead," she told Kurt in as calm a voice as she could muster. "I'll catch up in a minute."

She walked back to where Riley, who now had her arms folded across her chest and a pout on her face, was still standing.

"And just what do _you_ want, Pryde?" Riley demanded, her brown eyes narrowing disdainfully.

Kitty put on her friendliest smile. "Look, Riley," she began sweetly, "I admit that my boyfriend is really hot. But you flirting with him, especially when I'm standing there, is really not cool. If you don't do it again, that'd be great. But if you do..."

Her friendly smile and sweet tone of voice suddenly switched to an angry glare and an icy tone. "I'll use my powers to phase you into the ground, leave you there to dig yourself out—assuming you haven't suffocated to death, of course—and won't lose a wink of sleep over it. Get it?"

Riley's eyes had widened with horror by the time Kitty had finished her threat. "Uh...got it. Sure. Whatever."

Kitty's smile returned. "I knew you'd see it my way." And with that, she walked away to join Kurt by the sidewalk.

"And just vhat vas zat all about?" Kurt asked.

"Just coming to an understanding," Kitty answered. She cupped the side of her boyfriend's face with her hand and kissed him, then pulled back with a genuine smile. "Let's go home."


	34. Kisses

Kitty smiled as she heard the knock on her bedroom door. She stood from her bed and opened the door to reveal Kurt, who was hiding something behind his back.

"Can I help you with something?" Kitty asked.

Kurt shook his head. "No, not really." He suddenly grinned, pulling a bag of Hershey's chocolate kisses from behind his back and presenting it to Kitty. "Not unless you're hungry, anyvay."

Kitty let out a small, delighted laugh as she took the bag. "You got me chocolate? And I thought you were just gonna give me a card."

"Vhat can I say? I'm full of surprises," Kurt said, shrugging. "Happy Valentine's Day, Keety."

"You, too." Kitty walked back into her room, setting the bag onto her bed, tearing the bag open, and pulling out one of the chocolate kisses. She unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth, savoring the sweet, chocolatey taste.

A slightly mischievous smile crossed Kitty's lips as she looked at Kurt, who had followed her. "Want a kiss?"

"Don't mind if I do," Kurt replied cheerfully, reaching into the bag.

"Kurt," Kitty said, raising an eyebrow, "I was _not_ talking about chocolate."

Kurt looked up from the chocolate he was holding and smirked. "I know vhat you meant. Zat's how I chose to answer."

Kitty pretended to pout. "You'd choose candy over me?"

"Judge for yourself." And when Kurt leaned forward and kissed her, any and all thoughts seemed to be driven from Kitty's mind.


	35. Fooled

Kitty slowly made her way through the halls of the mansion late one morning. When she was a few steps away from the entrance to the dining room, she was pleased to see that both Kurt and Rogue were sitting at the table, eating breakfast.

The brunette smothered a giggle with her hand as she wondered how her boyfriend and his adopted sister would react to what she planned to say. Kitty then put on the brightest smile she could muster and walked into the dining room.

"Hi, guys!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Hey," Kurt greeted back without looking up from his scrambled eggs.

Rogue, who had just taken a bite out of one of the cinnamon rolls on her plate, merely gave Kitty a nod.

A forkful of eggs was halfway to Kurt's mouth when Kitty slinked her arms around him from behind.

"Morning, Fuzzy Elf," she murmured flirtatiously in his ear, leaning down slightly to place soft kisses along the side of his neck. Kurt's fork clattered to his plate, his appetite for food now forgotten.

"You're affectionate zis morning," he commented, grasping one of Kitty's hands and turning his head a little to face her.

"'Gross' is more lahke it," Rogue grumbled as Kitty kissed Kurt on the mouth. "And since when did Kitty decide tah go all PDA? Is there somethin' in the air?"

Kitty broke apart from Kurt and released him from her embrace. She regarded both Kurt and Rogue with an even wider smile.

"Well, since you asked, I might as well say..." Kitty paused for dramatic effect, "I'm pregnant!"

Dead. Silence.

Kurt's eyes widened in shock. He opened and closed his mouth several times, finally uttering a completely dumbfounded, " _Was_?" and falling backward out of his chair and onto the floor.

Rogue, for her part, was staring at Kitty, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. She shoved her plate of cinnamon rolls away, feeling as though she might throw up.

A thought suddenly occurred to her. _Wait a minute; is today—?_

"April Fools!" Kitty crowed, bursting out laughing. "Man, I wish I had my camera; you should see the looks on your faces!"

Rogue let out an enormous sigh of relief, then got up from her chair to look over at her brother. "Jeeze, Kitty! Ah think ya may've given Kurt about two or three panic attacks."

Kitty dropped her gaze to Kurt, who was still on the floor and currently breathing hard and mumbling incoherently in German.

"Kurt? Are you going to be okay?" Kitty asked, kneeling beside him.

Kurt's breathing returned to a more or less even rate, and he sat up to lean against Kitty's shoulder.

"I zink I need to lie down somevhere," he muttered.

Kitty helped Kurt up and led him out of the dining room, presumably to go set him down on the living room's couch. All the while, she assured him that it was all just an April Fools' joke; he didn't somehow impregnate her without knowing it and her dad wasn't on his way from Illinois to murder him.

It took a while before he believed her.


	36. Exposed

"Hello?" Kurt greeted, holding the living room's phone to his ear.

"Kurt? Oh, thank God it's you." Kitty's voice on the other line sounded greatly relieved.

Kurt frowned, his senses on alert. "Is somezing wrong, Keety?"

Kitty paused, hesitating. "As a matter of fact, yes. But it's kind of hard to explain over the phone. Listen, would it be alright if you don't pick me up from school today?"

"Um, sure, I guess," Kurt said uncertainly. "But Keety, vhat's going on up zere?"

"I'll explain when I get home," Kitty promised. "I'm almost late for class, anyway."

"Okay, see you zen," Kurt agreed. "Bye; I love you."

"I love you, too." He could almost hear the smile in Kitty's voice.

* * *

After Kitty walked back home a few hours later, the first thing she did was find Kurt in the main hall and drag him to her room, closing the door behind them.

"Vhat's going on?" Kurt asked.

Kitty turned to face him, sighing. "You might want to sit down," she said.

Kurt wordlessly sat on Kitty's bed, looking at her expectantly.

 _I'm just gonna have to be blunt about this,_ she thought. Out loud, she said, "The whole school thinks I'm cheating on you."

The only thought that went through Kurt's mind once his brain processed this statement was a very confused, _...Vhat? She can't be serious._

"And vhat gave you zat idea?" he wanted to know. Kurt was no stranger to the high school rumor mill; he still remembered the rumors and gossip flying around Bayville High about his and Kitty's relationship long before they'd actually become a couple. As crazy as rumors could get, the concept of Kitty cheating on Kurt ought to have been too ridiculous to even comprehend.

Kitty rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Well, it might have something to do with kids asking me all day, 'Hey, Pryde, does your boyfriend know you're cheating on him?' Oh, and there happens to be a picture of us making out posted on the Internet."

Kurt's eyes widened. " _Vhat_?" he exclaimed, suddenly standing up. "But zat's crazy; who—vait a minute," he interrupted himself as something occurred to him. "How vould zat make people zink you're cheating on me?"

Kitty sat down at her desk and turned on her laptop. "Let me show you."

Kurt walked over to stand behind Kitty. Minutes passed as the laptop booted up and the Internet was accessed. Finally, Kitty had pulled up an image hosting site. Kurt felt his stomach drop as he looked at a picture of them kissing passionately on the Institute's grounds.

And his image inducer wasn't on.

 _I zink I now know how people vould zink Keety's cheating on me,_ Kurt thought. After all, as far as the general public was concerned, Kurt Wagner and Nightcrawler were two separate people.

It took a little while for Kurt to find his voice.

"Who did zis?" he finally asked as Kitty clicked out of the site. "Do ve have stalkers now?"

"I'm pretty sure we'd know if someone thought they could just waltz up here," Kitty answered, getting up from her chair. "As for your first question, it was Bobby."

"Bobby?" Kurt repeated.

"Yep," Kitty said, shaking her head, her brow furrowed. "Apparently, he thought it'd be a funny joke. Too bad Jubilee likes him; otherwise, he'd be stuck in a wall right now."

A moment of silence passed before Kurt voiced his next question. "So, vhat do ve do about zat picture?"

"The only thing I can think of is to say it's fake." Kitty shrugged. "This whole thing with kids thinking I'm a cheating slut will blow over sooner or later."

Kurt made a face at the "cheating slut" part. "Even so..." His voice trailed off; he wasn't sure if he could put into words just how wrong he thought the notion of Kitty playing him was.

"Well, the important thing is that everyone here knows the rumor's not true," Kitty said, smiling a little and patting Kurt's shoulder. "I mean, you're still you, with or without the inducer."

"But ze average Bayville High student doesn't know zat," Kurt pointed out.

"Yeah, but there's really nothing we can do on that front."

Kurt looked away. "Zere might be."

"What do you mean?" Kitty asked.

He looked back at her. "Vell...maybe it's time to dazzle ze public vith ze real me."

"What?" To say Kitty was shocked would be an understatement. "Kurt, you don't have to do that."

"If it'll get people to not zink you're a—" Kurt began.

"Like I said, this'll blow over," Kitty interrupted forcefully. "You revealing to the world that you're blue and furry won't."

"It vas just a suggestion," Kurt muttered, looking away again. "And I zought you'd be happy with it."

"Kurt, look at me." Kitty's voice had softened.

He did so, and she continued. "If you want to show the public what you really look like, then great. But please don't do it because you think you have to." Kitty smiled good-naturedly. "Besides, when was the last time I nagged you to show off your true form?"

Kurt chuckled; she had a point there.

"So I guess our next problem is zat ve can't exactly make out for a vhile," he joked.

Kitty's smile broadened into a teasing grin, and she wrapped her arms around Kurt's shoulders and pulled him closer to her.

"Who says we can't?" she whispered flirtatiously.

She then proceeded to give Kurt a long, lingering kiss.


	37. Parallels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I shamelessly wax through Kitty about Shirou/Saber and find parallels between that ship and Kurt/Kitty.
> 
> Disclaimer: As much as I’d love to own Fate/stay night (or at least Shirou and Saber...or maybe just Shirou...), the rightful owner is Type-Moon.

Kitty huffed suddenly, causing Kurt to jump.

“Saber, you’re being ridiculous! Just say you love him already!” the brunette snapped at the TV screen.

“Keety, zat’s not going to help anyzing,” Kurt said, trying to calm his girlfriend down.

That evening, Kurt and Kitty were sitting together on the living room’s couch, watching the twenty-first episode of _Fate/stay night_ , an animated fantasy adventure series based off of the visual novel of the same name. In this particular episode, the protagonist Shirou had declared his love for the main female character Saber during a rather bloody fight with Gilgamesh, one of the antagonists. The scene that had caused Kitty’s outburst was the one where Shirou ended up kissing Saber and the latter acted as though the kiss meant nothing to her.

“But Saber loves Shirou!” Kitty went on, casting a frustrated glare in Kurt’s direction. “She _knows_ she does! And even if Shirou hadn’t said he loved her—twice—he took Saber out on a _date_ in the last episode! How could she not know why he wanted to go out with her?” She drew in a deep breath at the end of her rant.

Kurt couldn’t help but crack a grin. “You seem to be very...involved in zis, Kätzchen.”

Kitty’s expression went from annoyed to sheepish. “Well, I just think Saber’s being both really clueless and really stubborn. I mean, she kissed Shirou back, and yet she’s still acting like she feels nothing for him.”

“You know,” Kurt said, looking back at the screen in time to see Shirou arrive at Kotomine Church, “zey kind of remind me of how ve vere.”

“What do you mean?” Kitty asked.

“Shirou’s been in love with Saber since ze night he summoned her,” Kurt replied, “but she only saw him as her Master at first. And at zis point, he believes zat his feelings for her are unrequited.”

A slightly bittersweet smile crossed Kurt’s features. “In his mind, she vill never love him, no matter vhat he says or does.” Boy, did he know how that felt.

“But we’re not bound by a magical contract,” Kitty pointed out, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable at the direction the conversation was taking. “And we definitely don’t have the whole ‘after the Grail War is over, we’re most likely going to be separated’ thing.”

“Ja, ve don’t,” Kurt agreed, looking at her. “But back zen, before ve got togezzer, you sure did a very good job of convincing me you didn’t love me.”

Kitty winced, not having a response to that.

Kurt put an arm around her. “Hey, I’m not mad at you or anyzing; ve’re togezzer now, right?”

“I guess that just hit a little too close to home,” Kitty admitted.

“Sorry about zat.” Kurt grinned. “But you know, I zink zere’s somezing else ve have in common vith Shirou and Saber.”

“What’s that?”

“Zeir extreme protectiveness over each ozzer.”

Kitty laughed slightly. “Really? So you’re saying you have such a massive hero complex that you’d rush in to try to save me from a bad guy even if it might kill you?”

“I zink you already know ze answer to zat. And speaking of vhich,” Kurt added, glancing at the screen in time to see Shirou get stabbed by Lancer’s Gae Bolg, “let’s see if Saber can get Shirou out of zis von.”

* * *

About an hour and a half later, the twenty-fourth episode was nearing its end. Saber and Shirou had defeated Gilgamesh and Kirei Kotomine, and Shirou had decided to allow Saber to destroy the Holy Grail, despite knowing that it would result in her disappearing from his life.

Kurt felt Kitty take his hand as the two characters began their final conversation, and he heard her gasp as Saber quietly confessed to Shirou that she loved him.

“Oh my gosh, she said it; she finally said it!” Kitty’s voice sounded choked, and Kurt couldn’t quite blame her; right after Saber’s confession, the already sad music playing seemed to get even sadder.

When Saber disappeared only seconds later, Kurt turned to see that Kitty’s eyes were welling with tears. Wordlessly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

“It’s just so sad, y’know?” Kitty paused. “Kurt, if you ever decide to disappear, I’m going with you.”

“I’ll keep zat in mind ze next time I teleport,” Kurt joked halfheartedly.

The next few minutes were spent in silence as the couple watched Saber return to her era of Arthurian Britain and die, while Shirou mused on his belief that they would be together again.

“If it makes you feel better, Keety, I don’t zink zat’s ze end,” Kurt told her as the credits began to appear onscreen. “I’ve heard zat ze remake of ze visual novel has Shirou and Saber reuniting.”

He had barely finished speaking when Kitty’s face lit up.

“Are you _serious_?” she exclaimed, her sadness towards the star-crossed nature of the fictional romance forgotten upon hearing that bit of information. “Is it online?”

“I zought you said you had sworn off ze Internet,” Kurt reminded her.

Kitty shrugged. “I can make an exception, can’t I?” With that said, she got up and hurried out of the living room, leaving Kurt still sitting on the couch, a mixture of confusion and amusement on his face.


	38. Awakening

Kitty felt a small grin come to her face as she stepped into Kurt’s room to find him still in bed, curled up into a ball beneath the covers. She had been a bit concerned when he hadn’t been one of the first ones in the kitchen to eat breakfast, thinking her boyfriend might be sick or something.

But Kitty’s worries were all for nothing; apparently, Kurt just decided he wanted to be a little lazy this morning.

She walked over to sit down on the bed. “Kurt, time to get up,” she said cheerfully, gently shaking his shoulder.

“Don’t vanna,” Kurt mumbled sleepily, keeping his eyes closed.

“Come on, you can’t stay in bed forever.”

Kurt’s response was turn over so that he was facing away from Kitty. She shook her head slightly; he may have been a few months older than her, but it was times like these where she felt she was the adult in this relationship.

Well, there was only one thing she could do.

Kitty let out an exaggerated sigh. “Well, okay, you can sleep in. But I just want you to know that the mansion suddenly has a food shortage, so you might not have any breakfast by the time you get up.”

“Vhat?” Kurt exclaimed, suddenly sitting up in bed and looking much more wide awake than he had only a few seconds ago.

He looked at Kitty, who was giggling, and his eyes narrowed slightly. “Keety, zat vas mean.”

“It got you up, didn’t it?” Kitty pointed out, her giggles subsiding. She quickly amended her earlier thought; implying that her perpetually hungry boyfriend had to go without food wasn’t exactly her most mature moment, no matter how funny Kurt’s reaction was.

“Alright, you vin,” Kurt said, deciding to let it go.

Smiling, Kitty chose that moment to stand up and head out of the room. “See you in the kitchen, Kurt.”


	39. Mishaps

“Kurt, this really isn’t necessary,” Kitty was saying as her boyfriend practically dragged her into the bathroom.

“Keety, it’s because of me zat you got hurt,” Kurt replied as he knelt down to search the cabinets for bandages.

Kitty grunted in frustration. “Come on, it’s just a scratch,” she insisted. “It doesn’t hurt at all.”

She was referring to the scratch she’d gotten on her arm when Kurt had accidentally nicked her while they were practicing swordplay in the Danger Room. Kurt had been quite alarmed to see that blood had been drawn, even as Kitty told him repeatedly that it was no big deal.

“You’re making mountains out of—” Kitty was cut off mid-sentence when Kurt stood up and turned around to take her arm, quickly kiss the small, thin scratch on her skin, and place a Band-Aid on the area.

“...Molehills,” Kitty finished after a pause.

“I don’t see vhat mountains and molehills have to do vith anyzing,” Kurt joked. The slight smile on his face was soon replaced by a frown.

“You know, I can’t remember ze last time I hurt you. I mean, getting injured on a mission is von zing, but being ze von responsible—”

“Kurt,” Kitty interrupted, “the idea of you hurting me on purpose is impossible. What happened in the Danger Room was an accident; no harm, no foul.”

Kurt sighed. He knew a scratch on the arm was nothing to fuss over; chances were that it would be completely healed in a couple of days at most. He still felt a little guilty, though.

Of course, since when did beating himself up ever solve things?

“You’re right,” Kurt finally said. “But I zink I ought to stay avay from sharp, pointy objects for a vhile.”

“Does that include knives and forks?” Kitty teased.

Kurt had to grin at that. “Absolutely not.”


	40. Clouds

The sun was shining brightly in the azure blue sky, and the sky itself was decorated with various white, puffy clouds. It was on this particularly warm afternoon that Kurt and Kitty were sitting together on the Institute’s grounds, looking up at the clouds.

“That one looks like a bird,” Kitty remarked presently.

Kurt grinned. “Oh, yeah?” He pointed to a random cloud. “Vell, _zat_ von looks like Logan making Swiss cheese out of Sabretooth.”

Kitty blinked, startled, then looked at the cloud Kurt had pointed out. Far from matching his description, the cloud looked more like an oversized mushroom.

“Did anyone ever tell you it’s wrong to lie?” Kitty asked in a mock scolding voice, pretending to look stern.

“It’s not lying; it’s being dramatic,” Kurt replied, scooting closer to Kitty and gently rubbing her back in small, slow circles.

Her face softened at his touch, a slight, lazy smile replacing all attempts at playful admonishment. Her gaze drifted back to the sky.

“How about that one?” Kitty asked after a few seconds, pointing at another cloud. “I think it looks like a rabbit.”

“Nah,” Kurt disagreed. “It’s a turtle.”

An impish gleam lit up Kitty’s eyes as she looked back at her boyfriend. “You’re losing your touch.”

“Oh, am I, now?” Kurt had stopped rubbing Kitty’s back and now had his arms, along with his tail, wrapped around her torso.

“No, not really,” Kitty said. She gave Kurt a quick peck on his nose, then settled herself comfortably in his embrace.


	41. Exes

“Seriously, how can you eat that much ice cream and not gain an ounce?” Kitty asked incredulously.

“It’s my metabolism, Kätzchen; I can’t help it,” Kurt replied with a grin, cheerfully taking another bite of his big chocolate and vanilla ice cream sundae.

Kitty stared at her small cup of strawberry ice cream. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or jealous.”

“Ah, but impressed, alvays vhen it comes to me,” Kurt joked, his voice adopting the primmest tone he could muster.

This caused Kitty to laugh. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“I’ve been told zat at least vonce or twice a veek.”

Before Kitty could respond, her cell phone suddenly rang. She pulled it out of her pocket with a slight frown; who could be calling her? Her mother or father, maybe?

Her eyes widened when she looked at who it was. Wordlessly, she lifted up the still ringing phone to show Kurt what the caller ID read.

_Lance Alvers._

Just like that, the lighthearted mood in the dining room disappeared.

Two to three years ago, Kurt would have felt pangs of jealousy whenever Kitty got a phone call from Lance. However, ever since Kurt and Kitty began dating—perhaps ever since Kitty broke up with Lance—the blue teleporter had stopped seeing the Brotherhood leader as a threat. If anything, Lance had become more of an annoying nuisance.

At present, Kurt wasn’t jealous; he was just concerned.

He shifted his gaze to Kitty, silently asking if answering the phone was a good idea. The resigned look she gave him in return made her reply clear: _“The sooner I do it, the sooner it’ll be over with.”_

Her frown having deepened over the last few seconds, Kitty pressed a button on her phone and put it to her ear.

“What do you want?” she demanded.

Kurt heard Lance’s voice on the other end make an irritable comment.

“Well, _excuse_ me if I’m not exactly thrilled that you called,” Kitty snapped.

Lance’s voice on the other end rose.

“Then talk. It’s not like I have something better to do or anything.” Kitty’s tone was now dripping with sarcasm.

Kurt, now feeling quite ill at ease, was thinking more and more that Kitty should’ve just ignored Lance.

Seeming to sense his discomfort, Kitty’s expression softened as she looked at him.

“Look,” she told Kurt, sounding a little apologetic and now paying only half attention to what Lance was saying, “this won’t be too long; I promise.”

Kitty stood up from her chair and left for her room, leaving Kurt to stare at his sundae.

* * *

“I don’t get you, Kitty,” Lance was saying. “A few years ago, you would’ve taken me back, no problem.”

“I was _fifteen_ , Lance!” Kitty exclaimed, exasperated. “I was naïve and didn’t know any better! And you expect me to leave my wonderful boyfriend and come back to you just because _you_ want me to?”

“What does that blue-furred freak have that I don’t?” Lance furiously demanded.

Kitty felt the hand that wasn’t clutching her phone curl into a fist. She never wanted to punch her ex-boyfriend more than at that moment.

“Well, for starters, that ‘blue-furred freak’ happens to listen to what I have to say.” Kitty’s voice had hardened. “We can actually talk to each other without getting into fights every five minutes. And unlike _you_ , Kurt knows how to treat a girl. After all, he’s never once attacked or manhandled me.”

“Kitty—”

“I meant it when I told you we were done after beating Apocalypse,” she interrupted firmly. “If there’s a part of ‘we’re through’ that you didn’t get, you might want to look it up in the dictionary.”

Without waiting for Lance to respond, Kitty ended the call. After a few seconds of thought, she quickly turned her phone off for good measure.

Kitty flopped down onto her bed, suddenly feeling as though she’d run a marathon. She sighed, closing her eyes.

“Keety?” Kurt’s hesitant voice called from behind the closed door. “Uh, can I come in? I’ve brought your ice cream; zought you might vant to finish it before it melts.”

“Yeah; come in.”

Kurt walked in, holding the cup of ice cream that Kitty had left unfinished. She sat up on her bed to make room for Kurt. He handed her the ice cream after he sat down next to her, and she mechanically dipped the spoon in and took a bite, hardly noticing the strawberry-flavored taste.

After a pause, Kitty decided to speak. “I’m sorry for just taking off like that. Lance never did bring out the best in me, did he?”

“You have nozzing to apologize for,” Kurt assured her. “Vhat did he say?”

Kitty smiled humorlessly. “Apparently, he tried dating another girl. Surprise, surprise, it didn’t work out. She must’ve seen Lance for what he is and kicked him to the curb. Now he seems to think I’ll agree to go out with him again.”

Kurt shook his head. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“I really wish I could say that.” Kitty let out a frustrated huff. “Does Lance honestly think we can just go back to how we were like nothing ever happened? Oh, and he made the mistake of insulting you all because I’m dating you instead of him.”

That really didn’t surprise Kurt. “So Avalanche hates me. So vhat? He hates all ze X-Men.”

Kitty leaned against Kurt as he put an arm around her shoulders. “Very true.”

They fell into silence for awhile, Kitty smiling for the first time since Lance called.

“I know I don’t say it too often,” she said quietly, “but I do love you.”

Kurt smiled. “I knew zat already, but it’s alvays good to hear it. Oh, and Keety?”

“Yeah, Kurt?”

Kurt’s smile became playful. “Zat ice cream’s not getting any colder.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s always been a headcanon of mine that after Apocalypse’s defeat in “Ascension, Part 2,” Lance tried to get back together with Kitty and she rejected him. After going through a lot of crap the first time they were together, I doubt that Kitty would want to go through it a second time.


	42. Costume

Kurt stood behind Kitty as she examined herself in the mirror on her vanity table.

“You’re an angel, Keety,” he said with a small smile.

Kitty, who was indeed wearing an angel costume (complete with white robe, golden halo, and white wings), smiled back.

“Not the most original thing you’ve ever said, Fuzzy Elf,” she replied, “but it’ll do.”

Her smile faded as she turned to face her blue, furry boyfriend. “But we’ll be going out trick-or-treating soon and you still don’t have a costume.”

Kurt paused. It was true that he’d neglected to go to the mall to buy a Halloween costume. But that was because he’d gotten an idea, an idea that he’d been entertaining on and off in his head for the past six months or so.

Of course, he’d never planned to execute his idea—and even deciding to go through with it hadn’t been a too easy task—on Halloween night, but he supposed it was as good a time as any. Maybe even better.

At present, another smile was slowly forming on Kurt’s face.

“Actually, I do have my costume.”

“You do?” Kitty asked, confused.

Kurt’s smile only got bigger. “My costume—believe it or not—is myself.”


	43. Baking

Kitty must have been crazy to think she could’ve successfully baked a cake for Kurt’s twentieth birthday.

She had spent what felt like half the day going over what she’d need for a chocolate cake. She had _triple_ -checked the recipe, making sure the mansion’s kitchen had all of the ingredients and very carefully measuring out each one. When she poured the cake batter into a pan and set the pan into the oven, Kitty was confident that, at long last, she had made something that wouldn’t be inedible.

But the world decided it just didn’t like her today, so _of course_ she would have left the cake in too long. Kitty, who had taken a break from cooking and curled up with a book in her room, was startled to hear a loud, beeping noise...and it didn’t sound like the oven’s timer.

It sounded like the smoke alarm.

After quite a few minutes of panic, during which some of the X-Men freaked out over what they thought was an honest-to-goodness fire, Kitty had finally gotten the cake out of the oven. Or, what was _supposed_ to be a cake; it had burned to a pitch black, and no amount of frosting would be enough to salvage it.

“I’m so sorry, Kurt!” Kitty had exclaimed when he entered the kitchen to see what was going on. “I was gonna make a cake for your birthday tomorrow, but...well...” She gestured helplessly towards the scorched cake.

Kurt paused, staring at the ruined dessert. “I like zat you tried, at least.”

“Yeah, I _tried_ ,” Kitty said, her shoulders slumped, “but apparently, that’s not good enough. This oven is evil.”

The blue mutant chuckled as he slung an arm over Kitty’s shoulder. “Look on ze bright side. I vould razzer ze cake burn zan have you blow yourself up.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” But the brunette’s lips were quivering upward despite herself.

“You’re smiling, so I vould say yes.”

“Fair enough.” Kitty moved away from Kurt’s touch to get a knife, deciding to scrape the cake off and throw it away. “I just hope Storm’s not too mad about me ruining one of her cake pans.”


	44. Time

It had been fifteen hours since she phased into his room to wake him up, greeting him with a cheery “Get up, Kurt! It’s New Years’ Eve!”

It had been twelve hours since the Institute’s residents placed bets on who would stay up the longest.

It had been five hours since the New Years’ Eve party began, complete with music, food, and drinks (non-alcoholic drinks, of course—Professor Xavier’s orders).

It was now one minute to midnight. Most of the X-Men had gone to bed, but Kurt and Kitty were still sitting on the living room’s couch, the latter leaning her head against the former’s shoulder. The seconds passed in silence; Kitty blinked repeatedly in an effort to stay awake, while Kurt found himself jerking his head up to keep from nodding off.

But the gonging of the nearby grandfather clock—one, two, three, four—succeeded in snapping the couple from their dozing.

After the clock struck twelve, it took only half a second for Kitty to press her lips to Kurt’s, and it was now five seconds since the kiss ended. Even in the dark, Kurt could see the bright smile on Kitty’s face as her blue eyes sparkled happily.

“Happy New Year, Fuzzy Elf.”


	45. Studying

Kitty groaned helplessly, closing her eyes as she placed a hand to her temple. A couple of seconds later, she opened her eyes and once again grabbed the stack of history notes on her desk. Her eyes scanned the first page; dates and historical figures and events leapt out at her so fast they seemed to blur together, and she dropped her notes with a grunt.

 _This is hopeless—I’m not retaining anything!_ Kitty thought, biting her lower lip in worry. Her final in her history college class was tomorrow and she still felt she wasn’t ready for it. What if all this studying turned out to be for nothing? What if she went to class to take the test and ended up flunking? What if—?

An all too familiar _bamf_ interrupted her from her thoughts.

“Not now, Kurt; I have to study,” Kitty said without looking at her boyfriend.

“Yes, so you’ve been saying all veek.” Kitty heard Kurt’s footsteps as he stepped closer to her, then felt the soft fur of his hands as he put them on her shoulders.

“Only because it’s important that I pass,” she told him, involuntarily closing her eyes when he started to gently rub her shoulders.

“You’re so tense, Keety,” Kurt commented with a frown once he noticed the stiffness of her muscles. “Surely you’re not vorried about your test?”

“Of course I’m worried,” Kitty said as her eyes opened, her brows furrowed. “My history final is tomorrow morning and I still don’t feel like I’ve learned anything, no matter how many times I look over my notes.”

Kurt paused in his ministrations. “You’ll do fine, Kätzchen. How many times have you stressed out over a test, zen passed it vith flying colors?”

“Your faith in me is nice, Kurt, but it won’t matter if I blank out on every question the test asks.”

“You vorry too much,” Kurt insisted as he continued rubbing her shoulders. “I’m started to zink you should’ve just taken online courses; it vould be less stress for you,” he added with a small grin.

Despite herself, Kitty couldn’t help but smile slightly. “Not everyone can be so attached to the mansion that they would attend college from the computer in the library.”

“Yet you’re still living here,” Kurt pointed out, “so you can’t say you don’t have an attachment to ze place.”

Kitty chuckled a little, and she soon closed her eyes again as she felt herself relaxing under Kurt’s fingers.

“So, how’s this little distraction supposed to help me ace my final?” she asked after a moment of silence.

“Distraction?” Kurt repeated, amused. “I’m here to help you relax. Relaxing vill help you focus.”

Kitty’s only response was a breathy sigh as Kurt lowered his hands to rub her back.

“Feeling relaxed yet?” he asked.

She hummed out an affirmative, then turned around with an appreciative smile. “What would I do without you?”

“You vould have to find somevon else to help you relieve your stress,” Kurt answered, before leaning in to kiss her.

Kitty eagerly returned his kiss, her smile widening against his lips. Perhaps this kind of stress relief was _exactly_ what she needed.


	46. Proposal

It was official, Kitty thought; Kurt was acting strange, even for him.

They were at one of the most expensive restaurants in Northbrook. Kitty had raised an eyebrow at that; she couldn't remember the last time Kurt had taken her anywhere fancy. And he hadn't even complained about the prices; when Kitty halfheartedly joked about how much money he was spending on her and that she wasn't worth it, Kurt just looked at her oddly and said seriously, "Of course you're vorth it."

Several minutes after they'd ordered their dinner, Kitty couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"Kurt, you do realize that you just ordered a vegetarian pizza, right?"

"Vhat?" Kurt, who'd been staring into space for the last few minutes, asked.

Kitty frowned. "Either I've finally converted you to vegetarianism, or there's something wrong. I'm going with the second option."

"Zere's nozzing wrong...per se."

"Is it about my dad?" Kitty pressed. "What were you two talking about today, anyway?"

Kurt smiled mysteriously. "I'll tell you later."

Kitty let out an impatient sigh. "Kurt! You said you'd tell me tonight; it's tonight already. So what's going on?"

"Patience is a virtue, liebling," Kurt replied simply, continuing to smile.

Kitty decided to let the issue go for now when their food arrived. If something was seriously wrong, Kurt would have told her; she should know after almost seven years of dating him. In the meantime, Kitty spent the next few minutes being amused by Kurt's disgust at his vegetarian pizza.

"Vhy did I order zis?" Kurt asked rhetorically after he had taken a bite.

Kitty laughed. "Oh, don't be such a whiner; it can't be that bad," she said, helping herself to a few spoonfuls of her soup.

Kurt muttered something about vegetarianism being overrated, but Kitty was far too used to his comments on the matter to truly be offended. He seemed to be back to normal, at any rate; whatever had been on his mind, Kitty figured she'd know sooner or later.

After dinner, Kitty expected that she and Kurt would go back to her parents' house; instead, Kurt drove them to the local park.

"Wow," Kitty murmured as she and Kurt began to walk on one of the park's roads. The moon was shining above them, and there were many fireflies flying about, looking like tiny, glowing lights of a Christmas tree.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kitty asked.

Kurt didn't answer; he seemed to be lost in thought. Kitty stopped walking and stepped closer to him, gently putting her arms around him.

"All right, Kurt; what's got you so distracted?" Kitty looked up to smile slightly at him. "It _is_ now later..."

Kurt chuckled. "Okay, you vin." He disentangled himself from Kitty's grasp before speaking again.

"Keety, have you ever zought about changing your name?"

Kitty blinked. Whatever she had expected Kurt to say, it hadn't been that. "What does that have to do with whatever you talked about with my father?"

"I needed his permission before I could do zis."

And with that, Kurt got down on one knee in front of Kitty. Her confusion increased. _What's he—?_

"Katherine Pryde," Kurt began solemnly, then he suddenly smiled as he pulled out a black, velvet box from his pocket, opened it, and held it up to her, "how'd you like to become Mrs. Wagner?"

The first thought to cross Kitty's mind was, _He's never called me Katherine before._ A second later, she realized that there was a golden ring with a single diamond in the box. And then it clicked into place.

_He...he's proposing!_

Tears sprang to Kitty's eyes. "Yes," she said, nodding as a smile on her face formed. " _Yes_!" she exclaimed, pulling Kurt up and kissing him fully on the mouth.

"Yes," Kitty repeated breathlessly after she pulled away, her eyes sparkling, "I'll marry you."

Kurt laughed as he slid the ring onto Kitty's left ring finger. "Zat's very good news; zis ring vasn't cheap, you know."

"But you think I'm worth it, right?"

"'Course." Kurt pulled Kitty into an embrace, letting his tail slip out of his holographic form to wrap around her waist. He kissed her forehead gently.

"I love you, Keety," Kurt whispered.

Kitty let out a small giggle; she'd never get tired of hearing him say that.

"I love you, too."

As they went back to the car (their walk long forgotten), a still giddy Kitty was saying, "I've gotta call Rogue."

"Call her tomorrow; she'll be asleep by now," Kurt told her.

Kitty ignored him, instead choosing to look at her engagement ring, her face glowing.

She looked up at Kurt, smiling. "I love you," she repeated, practically skipping into the car after Kurt opened the door for her.


End file.
